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CHINESE CULTURE 
AND CHRISTIANITY 


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Chinese Culture and 
Christianity 


A REVIEW OF CHINA’S RELIGIONS AND RELATED 
SYSTEMS FROM THE CHRISTIAN STANDPOINT 


’ He y 
' JAMES LIVINGSTONE STEWART 


Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions, West 
China Union University, Chengtu, Szechwan. 


Author of “The Laughing Buddha,” etc. 


“‘The world’s peace rests with China, and whoever 
understands China socially, politically, economically, 
religiously, holds the key to world politics during the 
neat five centuries.’—JoHN Hay. 





New Yorr CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LoNDON AND EDINBURGH 


Copyright, MCMxxvI, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 99 George Street 


To my many Chinese Comrades, 
my Foreign Fellow-workers, and 
the Big Four of my own Family, 
These Pages 
are put forth with the prayer 
that they may play some small 
part in China’s progress toward 
Christ, and a Chinese Christian 
Culture. 


wr les 
eee Lhe ® 
oF et od ee i 


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Foreword 


the rallying-cry of a clamorous group in 
China. 

What is this “cultural invasion”? Let the agi- 
tators themselves explain: ! 

‘“‘ Labourers, Farmers, Students, Merchants, All who 
are oppressed! ” runs their manifesto, “ We do not 
fear Imperialism as shown in machine-guns, in customs 
conferences, in unequal treaties. What we do fear is 
the subtle, invisible, cultural invasion of Christianity, 
for it brings with it the deceptive instruments of ten- 
derness and philanthropy. It is these activities that 
destroy our nation, weaken our place among peoples, 
make us insensitive, so that we think that ‘even the 
thief is our father! ’ 

“ Fellow-countrymen! If we all become Christians, 
and all China becomes Christianized, then Imperialism 
will become like a great sword and an executioner’s 
axe throughout the land, plundering our homes and 
cutting us to pieces. We must organize, must unite, 
must fight this force with all our might! ” 

Those of us who know something of Christian cul- 
ture cannot but stand astounded at such statements. 
We are compelled to pause and inquire, “ Are we really 
blundering? Is all our mighty effort to win China’s 
millions to think and feel and will and live the Christ- 


7 


ct Oe Cultural Invasion! ” Such, today, is 


8 FOREWORD 


life, individually and socially, a monumental error? 
Is Chinese culture good enough? Is it going to fit 
into, and forward a new world-order, a day of peace, 
prosperity and good will among men, for which the 
great leaders of the nations are labouring?’ These 
can only be answered by asking another question, 
What is Chinese culture? The studies in this book 
are an attempt, in part, to answer that pertinent 
inquiry. 

But not alone should those interested in the mission- 
ary movement of our day be concerned. The Western 
merchant, the soldier, the minister, the traveller, the 
men of the consular, customs and other services are 
more and more constantly coming into contact with 
the vast multitudes in China. How impossible to com- 
prehend their standpoint without a study of their 
cultures! Imagine an Oriental, living in our midst 
and seeking to adjust himself to our civilization, yet 
knowing nothing of our predilections regarding white, 
black and yellow races, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants 
and Catholics; of our institutions of home and shop 
and hospital, church and state; of our unwritten codes 
affecting and concerning male and female, communica- 
tion and commerce, hospitality and honour! In such 
case our social structure would ever remain for him a 
great, impenetrable maze. Good relations require 
good understanding. 

Then there is that wider circle of press, pulpit and 
public life which seeks daily to understand the vast 
Orient and interpret it to the West. How are those 
who form it to construe outer movements without 


FOREWORD 9 


comprehending inner motives? The passing gener- 
ation has almost exclusively been absorbed in the in- 
vestigation, adaptation and accumulation of things. 
In its eagerness it almost ignored the fact that things 
exist only for men—all men. In its exploitation of 
natural resources it thought of whole races, not as 
ends but as means. Today, we, the descendants of 
that generation, are brought up sharply by the sudden 
and sullen rumblings of vast reactions and rebellions 
among the patient, perspicacious peoples of the Orient. 
We of the Occident must readjust our values, broaden 
our vision, deepen our sympathies, correct our con- 
tacts, or reap the whirlwind of wrong-doing and 
misunderstanding. 

We may accept as an axiom that all men desire to 
live and that, in their best moments, most men desire 
to live well. To do so requires proper adjustment to 
men and things and to that invisible intelligence behind 
both men and things which we call Spirit. Leaders of 
peoples, down long centuries and in all lands have been 
attempting these adjustments. Some have made but 
poor adjustments based upon very primitive interpreta- 
tions. It is our commission, today, to seek to remedy 
these misinterpretations and maladjustments, and, in 
the spirit of compassion, to co-operate for a better 
world. 

The expert in things Chinese will possibly find little 
that is new in these studies. Indeed, he will probably 
differ with some of their findings. The writer can only 
claim that he has endeavoured, wherever possible, to 
check his conclusions by discussions and investigations 


10 FOREWORD 


carried on during a score of years of residence among 
his Chinese scholar and other friends, far in the heart 
of China. He immediately acknowledges his indebt- 
edness to the great sinologues of the past and to his 
contemporaries of today, and he has tried, wherever 
possible, to acknowledge such indebtedness. 

Unfortunately, the valued lore of the real experts on 
matters relating to China is scattered here and there in 
various volumes, some of them quite difficult to secure. 
The writer has sought to select some of this and ar- 
range it in such form and order as he trusts will prove 
convenient to the reader and serve, at least, as an intro- 
duction for further investigations. Should these studies 
be brought to the attention of some of great China’s 
clever young leaders of today, the writer trusts they 
will accept them, in the spirit of candour in which they 
are written. As they, themselves, when concluding an 
address, say with fine courtesy: ‘‘ Where I am in error, 
_ please instruct me.” Doubtless our own Western cul- 
ture will one day come to be richly benefitted by the 
constructive criticism of these men. We, in turn, 
would welcome this, to the end, that without as well as 
“within the four seas all may be brothers.” 

It should, I think, be stated that the substance of 
these studies was given in lecture-form to students of 
the Language School, West China Union University, 
Chengtu, and, more recently, to the China group, in 
the Canadian School of Missions, Toronto. 

tl Pages 


Toronto, Canada. 


Contents 


I 
ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 


Similarity of phenomena, East and West—Difference of 
interpretation—Common  classifications—Chinese primitive 
conceptions—All conscious—All organized—All transform- 
able—Crude classification—All ethical—Capable of help or 
harm—Prostration of man’s powers—Transmigration of the 
soul—Awe of ancestors—Buddhist benignity—Release of 
life—Sorcerer strategy—Reincarnation illustrated . . . 


TE 
PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 


The human soul—Riddle of sleep—Dr. Tseng’s dream— 
Calling back the soul—Cataleptic conditions—Clairvoyancy— 
Demon possession—Boxer hypnosis—Star souls—Immortality 
—The three souls—The soul accompanying the corpse— 
Clothing—The coffin—Charms—Mourning ceremonies—Se- 
lecting the grave—The pallbearers—Exorcisms—The funeral 
procession—Ceremonies at the grave—Care of the grave—The 
second soul, and the ancestral tablet—Animating the tablet— 
Transfusion of spirit—A source of sorrow bata Bet 


Il 
HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 


The third soul—Its terrain—The land of shades—Govern- 
ment in shade-land—Other thoughts of the Hereafter—The 
Buddhist Western Heaven—The ‘Taoist Heaven—Various 
Hells—The Eastern Hell God—The punishments—Transmi- 
gration, how effected—The six paths—The third soul’s pil- 
grimage—Speeding the soul—Equipment for the journey— 
Priestly precautions—On trial—Weeping wives—Priestly aid 
—Three common ceremonies—The first ceremony, inviting 
the soul—The second ceremony, releasing the soul—The third 
ceremony, feeding the Rate Paneaeege tinea in eee to 
their beliefs 


IV 
ANCESTOR WoRSHIP 


The dead dependent upon the living—Six suppositions— 
Worship at the grave—Extortionate exactions—Other require- 


11 


15 


37 


60 


12 CONTENTS 


ments—Idol processions—The dread of death—Funds sent 
forward—The imperative of property—The imperative of pos- 
terity—The effect upon the men of the nation—Effect upon 
the women—FEffect upon the family—Effect upon society— 
Effect upon the nation—International effects . . . ‘ 


Vv 
PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 


The primary elements—Two primary principles—The Ying 
and the Yang—Evolutions and Revolutions—The Great Ex- 
treme, and the Unlimited—Monism depicted—An algebraical 
progression—The source of all phenomena—Further expan- 
sions—Ancient charts—The two principles progress to higher 
degrees—Historical origin in the Dragon Horse, and the Tur- 
tle Writings—Later diagrams of these—Attempted solutions 
—The expansions by the Emperor Wen—Supplements by 
Duke Chow—The Book of Changes—Comments by Confu- 
cius—Occidental interpretations—Devices for divination— 
More modern methods—Other systems—Tied by tradition 


VI 
PHysics, PHysIoLoGy AND FuNG-SHUI 


The five elements or “forms ”—Active and passive princi- 
ples in each—Elements mutually creative and destructive— 
Relative positions depicted—Resulting groups of fives in phe- 
nomena—The nature of each element—The formation of the 
five colours—Application to physiology—Deductions as to 
disease—Prescriptions—Relation to the five senses—Fung- 
shui—Prototype of the earth phenomena in the heavens—The 
ten Heavenly Stems—The twelve Earthly Branches—Good 
and evil star influences—The twenty-eight constellations con- 
trol—Other factors affecting life and destiny—The horoscope 
—How it hampers marriage—The locating of graves—Dragons 
in the watercourses—Fatal fruitage of the five element theory . 


VII 
Taoist TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 


Lao-tze, traditional founder of Taoism—The philosophy of 
Inaction—Tao the supreme law—Man should submit— 
Lao-tze rebukes Confucius—The Tao-teh Ching—The disciple 
Chuang-tze—Later misinterpreters—Alchemy and transforma- 
tions—Methods of acquiring magic powers—The philosophers’ 
<0) 1 Me Teer eT AN SSI HLH a\bing Sao Manlioe graces as 


Vill 
Taoist Dririgs AND DEMONS 
Lao-tze deified and worshipped—Innumerable minor gods— 


131 


. 151 


CONTENTS 


The Pearly Emperor—Attaining Immortality—Five degrees 
of Immortals—Demon Immortals—Demon New Year—Hu- 
man Immortals—Third Degree Immortals—Deified genii— 
Celestial gods—The Western Royal Mother—Demons—The 
Taoist Popes—Charms—Many priests a menace—A priestly 
proclamation—Ten woes CT Aaa pe eae aed la FE 


, 
CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 


Three traditional Emperors—Seven statesmen sages—The 
Emperor Yao—The Emperor Shun—The Emperor Yii—The 
tyrant Chie—Emperor Tang of the Shang dynasty—The ty- 
rant Cheo-sin—The famous Chow dynasty—Chronicles of 
Duke Chow—Confucius, the Statesman-Sage—Reforms his 
native state of Lu—A wicked and warring generation—Seduc- 
tion of his prince—Some details of his daily life—His love of 
learning and loyalty to conviction—His task as transmitter— 
Death of the rat B. Cc. 478—His ome ae down ay 
centuries . : 


x 
ConFruciAN DoctTrRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 


Some of the Sage’s great words and texts—The perfect 
age—Confucius as practical politician—Supported yet circum- 
scribed by the past—Early Chinese critics of Confucianism— 
Lao-tze and Chuang-tze—Yang-tze and Moh-tze—Mencius, 
his great disciple and defender—Persecution under the First 
Emperor—Honour restored by the House of Han—The Three 
Religions—Chu-fu-tze and materialism—The masses unsatis- 
fied—Recent criticisms—The Classics under the new Repub- 
lic—Conclusions . CN UE aR NC pli A RG EB a MI) GRUNTS 1 

XI 


BupDHISM IN INDIA 


An imported teaching—Introduced into China, when and 
how?—The founder of the faith, Siddharta—Youth makes 
the Great Renunciation—The thought world of his day— 
Siddharta’s search for peace and light—Wholly enlightened, 
he becomes “ Buddha ”—The new light that came—The Tatha- 
gata, or “ Self-Saviour ”—Teachings as contained in his First 
Sermon—The Noble Eight-fold Path—Early missionary efforts 
of Buddhism—Buddha’s death, about B. c. 480—Royal mission- 
aries sent to Ceylon—Differences between Northern and 
Southern schools—Northern or Great Vehicle . ; 


XII 


BuDDHISM IN CHINA 
A universe of unlimited time—A world of unbounded 


13 


. 166 


. 185 


. 204 


. 223 


14 CONTENTS 


space—Heavens and hells of wonderful complexity—The 
thirty-two heavens—Locations of hells—Buddha exalted from 
a teacher to a God—Mi-lei Foh, the Merciful, “ The Laugh- 
ing Buddha ”—O-mi-to Foh, “ the Buddha of Boundless-Age ” 
—Yoh-shih-foh, “the Healing Buddha’”—The creation of 
Bodhisatvas, or “ Pu-sas””—Widely known Pu-sas—Wen-shu 
—Pu-hsien—Ti-tsang—Kwan-yin, “ The Goddess-of-Mercy ”— 
The Mahayana school in China—Idolatry related to allegory 
—FEach idol has his own chief seat, and his special place in 
the temple—Extravagant promises to worshippers—Charms, 
magic formule, relics—Hinayana influences—Compromises 
between the Northern and Southern schools—Buddhism 
founded on fallacy SEs eee 


XIII 
IsLAM IN CHINA 
Islam in China estimated—Birthplace of Mohammed—His 
youth—Religious revelations—The Flight—In Medina—War 
on Mecca—In praise of their Prophet—Six articles of faith— 
Eight duties—Seven sins—Spread of Islam—Contemporary 
history of China—Two contacts with China—1. The sea route 
to Canton—Chinese records regarding this—2. The land route 
to the North West—Mohammedan rebellions—Marks of the 
Mohammedan in China—Special social customs—Mosques— 
Propaganda—Pilgrimages to Mecca—Required practices—Re- 
lations with Christianity—Contacts with other Chinese— 
Islam’s contribution to Chinese culture—Aboriginal millions— 
Early contacts with Chinese—Population—Terrain—Their 

primitive culture—Their religions iil: oie cot ain 


XIV 


Recent CuutureE Contacts 


Comparison of the cults—Confucian control—Effect on 
commerce—On missions—On foreign relations—Treaty con- 
cessions—Missionary privileges—Conquered but culturally 
unconverted—Cautious concessions—Modern schools opened 
—Changed attitude toward Christianity—The Revolution— 
Military menace—New labour conditions—Confucian Classics 
ousted—Christian conquests—The Renaissance, 1920-26—Anti- 
Classic — Anti-military — Anti-capitalistic — Anti-religious— 
Anti-Christian — Anti-Christian Education—Recent Educa- 
tional regulations—Anti-foreign—Anti-Japanese and Anti- 
British — Anti-Imperialism, Bolshevism, Communism — At 
heart “ Pro,’ not “ Anti”—Power of the Student Class—The 


. 236 


. 257 


struggle for the student soul today—A New “International” . 286 
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . 809 
ENDEX 2 UI Cl Ee ii: ean . 312 


I 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 


the world around. Whether seen in Asia or 

America, the great panorama of the heavens 
and the earth appears much the same in general out- 
line. Day by day the sun rises and sets, advancing 
and retreating as the seasons grow. In the East as in 
the West the moon waxes and wanes, presents its horn 
when new and its shadow-flecked surface when full. 
Each orb has its occasional eclipses, when sudden and 
mysterious darkness covers the earth. 

The stars, too, shine forth in China as in the home- 
land with fantastic groupings into forms of articles, 
animals and men. The five planets creep up the sky 
to descend again. The Milky Way, or, as the Chinese 
term it, “‘ the Heavenly River,” spans the skies like a 
sparkling scarf. Falling stars are frequent. Occa- 
sional fragments reach the earth as aerolites to be re- 
garded with awe; while, more mysterious still, great 
comets sweep the sky, spreading splendour and terror 
with their tails. 

Nor is the phenomena of the air less familiar. 
Clouds float high in fleecy grandeur, grow at times 
into a great canopy overcasting all, or come racing 
down before the winds, apparently black with rage, 


15 


Pa ork phenomena do not differ very widely 


16 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


bristling with lightning-flashes and booming with thun- 
der. This passes and the wind dies down to a zephyr 
with occasional eddying gusts. Then big drops fall 
heavily and the rainbow spreads an arch of single or 
double glory on the horizon. 

Below all this, the earth is wrinkled into far- 
towering Tibetan and other mountain chains or multi- 
tudinous hills, plateaus and plains. Dizzy snowcaps 
and great glaciers send forth cold, crystal streams, to 
turn into tumultuous torrents as they writhe among 
the rapids, or, later, joining mighty rivers, flow east- 
ward, sediment-laden, to the sea. Grass and shrubs, 
flowers and forests, snails and snakes, bees, butterflies 
and wild beasts innumerable, dwell among the moun- 
tains. Fruits and grains, vines and vegetables, dogs 
and cats, ducks, geese and chickens, horses, pigs 
and cattle multiply on plains and plateaus. And 
people, people, people—by rivers, roads and rural rice 
fields, in villages, towns and teeming cities—dot and 
dominate all. 

Difference of Interpretation. 

No; the contrast is not chiefly in phenomena. It 
may seem so at first, but it becomes less and less so as 
one becomes orientalised. Wherein then, is the differ- 
ence, often so distracting? It lies in the different ways 
in which we and they, our ancestors and theirs, have 
interpreted phenomena. More accurately still, for the 
difference again is more apparent than real, it lies often 
in the different degrees of advancement which we and 
they have made in this interpretation. In these differ- 
ences of interpretation and progress in interpretation 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 17 


lie many of the secrets which seem to sever China’s 
culture from ours. Let us examine, briefly, her most 
primitive theories of things. 

Common Classification. 

In our present-day investigation of phenomena, it is 
very common to divide all things roughly into three 
great groups, or kingdoms, namely, the animal, the 
vegetable and the mineral. The latter we speak of as 
matter and motion, regarding it as inanimate. The 
vegetable world we consider as being of a higher order, 
for it has life, though apparently unconscious. Animal 
life we deem to be still higher, for in it we see con- 
sciousness; man we place yet one step higher in the 
scale, for self-consciousness is manifest. These ac- 
ceptances are so common with us in our widespread 
studies of science, today, that we take them as com- 
monplaces, having almost forgotten that our fore- 
fathers ever thought differently, and are prone to 
regard with an air of superiority, if not with ridicule,” 
more primitive interpretations. 

Chinese Primitive Conceptions. 

In China, however, especially among her masses, a 
primitive conception of things still prevails. In the 
first place, they look upon all things as living, animate. 
Not only vegetables and animals, but stones and stars 
and coal and minerals, all live and grow. Thus one 
opposition to mining arose from the belief that to enter 
the earth and dig out the veins and nuggets thereof, 
was, as it were, to kill the goose that lays the golden 
egg, to rob the very sources of primal supply—sources 
which if let alone would send forth their fruitage in due 


18 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


season. So, too, stars and stones must grow. Are 
there not large and small among them, and are not the 
little ones many and the large ones few? Indeed, it 
has been difficult, at times, to convince even students 
that stones do not grow. Are they not dug from below 
the soil where they have gradually increased in size? 
All is Animate. 

In Chengtu, the capital of Szechwan, are a couple of 
sacred stones which may further illustrate this thought. 
One is called the Heavenly Horizon Stone. The tradi- 
tion attaching to it is that it came from the horizon or 
fell down from heaven. When it came no one knows, 
but it was “very small” then and “has grown.” A 
second such stone is in the old Manchu city. It is 
called the Prop-Loom Stone. Centuries ago, says tra- 
dition, a man was sent to find the sources of the Yellow 
River. He wandered on and on until, one night, he 
found his boat seized by a current, and apparently 
carried up-stream. He discovered eventually that he 
had left the earth, and was afloat on the Heavenly 
River, thus quite evidently the source of the Yellow. 
He was certain of his whereabouts, for he could see 
there, on one side of the River, the Heavenly Herds- 
man guarding his cattle and the Weaver Maiden—they 
are allowed to visit each other but once a year, when 
the magpies build a bridge with their bodies—on the 
other. He had, moreover, a brief conversation with 
the Herdsman, and on returning to earth was permitted 
to bring away with him a small stone as a souvenir, 
proof positive of his visit. Is not the stone still to be 
seen, and has it not an indentation worn by propping 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 19 


up the Weaver Maid’s loom? Of course it is big now, 
but that is easily explained. It has grown. All things 
are animate, all grow. That is the first thought in this 
interpretation of things as they are held by the masses 
in China. 

All Conscious. 

In the second place, all things are conscious. They 
know all that is going on about them. Though you 
may not always be able to discover their eyes, ears and 
other organs, still they see and feel and act. This is 
true of trees and stones as well as of animals. This 
may sound childish, and it zs—literally so! It is the 
conception of the childhood of the race, theirs and 
ours, still being handed down. Perhaps you are able 
to recall some of the almost-forgotten days when you 
thought somewhat similarly yourself. I can. I re- 
member well a great boulder-friend with whom we 
played by the roadside near my old boyhood home. 
Frequently, I recall slipping away stealthily to its side, 
there to throw my arms about it and tell to it my tale 
of woe, or pat its smooth surface as I shared with it 
my joys. 

But be the true origin what it may, that is the belief 
of millions of the masses in China today. The stones 
spoken of above have souls. They are intelligent. In- 
deed, it is thought that at times they have ways of 
knowing which we have not. We can know only the 
past and the present. They also know the future. So 
especially large or peculiar stones, trees and animals 
are singled out and worshipped. The Heavenly Hori- 
zon Stone and the Prop-Loom Stone, has each a temple 


20 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


built about it and incense is offered daily therein. 
Stone images of tigers, lions, turtles, etc., may be found 
anywhere. They are worldly-wise. Worship them! 

A large willow-tree in our locality will serve as an 
illustration of the beliefs concerning the vegetable 
world. It was recently discovered that one had be- 
come especially enlightened. Immediately crowds 
came from all the neighbouring homes and villages. 
They wrapped it with red cloth and saluted it with fire- 
crackers as a sign of congratulation. They worshipped 
it with incense and prostrations. ‘Then they stripped 
it of all its leaves and most of its bark, carrying these 
home as aids in healing diseases. 

All the world, then, of no matter what order is inéel- 
ligent, to some degree, and much of it has foreknowl- 
edge surpassing man. Such is a second step in this 
primitive interpretation. 

All Organized. 

Thirdly, these living, thinking things about us are 
organized. ‘They are not a rabble. They have appar- 
ently copied themselves from the people of ancient 
China—or vice versa, for the organization is much the 
same, viz., emperors, kings, princes, etc. We need not 
dwell upon it. Thus a temple to the “ King of Cattle ” 
was upon one corner of the site purchased for West 
China Union University. An old gateman, an espe- 
cially shrewd and active man of sixty, will entertain 
you for an indefinite time telling you of the “ Dog 
King ” he once owned. In the days of which he tells 
the old man was a gardener, and no strange dogs dared 
come near the premises. Naturally his own was large 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 21 


in size, white in colour and covered with long hair. His 
especial insignia of office, however, was his tail, which 
always stuck straight up in the air. He never lowered 
it to others. The strange dogs might run out on the 
street and bark, but he paid them no need. They 
would run up to him and smell him for a moment as 
salutation, then wagging their tails, go their way. Was 
not that convincing? The world of things is all ani- 
mate, intelligent and organized. 

All Trans formable. 

More mysterious still, these things have a power 
which human beings do not possess. They have the 
power of transformation. They can turn themselves 
into other beings or things at will. Chinese literature 
is full of stories, and the talk of the common people 
full of tales which illustrate this belief. A work of 
several volumes, called Liao Kiai (“‘Strange Tales 
from a Chinese Studio,” translated by Giles) is es- 
pecially prolific in recorded instances. One reads, for 
instance, of a gentleman who one day obtained a large 
turtle. He did not kill it, but allowed it to go. One 
night, later, he was met by a big, burly, drunken fel- 
low, who gave him all manner of abuse and would have 
assaulted him had he not inadvertently mentioned his 
name. Then all was changed. The winebibber be- 
came suddenly sober, invited him to a beautiful home— 
a palace, in fact—by the river bank, and feasted him 
royally for many hours. Later, the hospitable host 
divulged the fact that he was the prince of that river, 
travelling in disguise. Then, suddenly, all was changed 
again, and the gentleman saw nothing save the form of 


22 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


a big turtle, waddling down and disappearing in the 
stream. The turtle, the drunken bully and the river 
prince were all one! 

A student on the way to his examinations overtook 
a big, brusque, hungry fellow, who, when offered food 
and drink, devoured it by bowlfuls. As their route lay 
along the same road, they travelled together for some 
distance. Later, at the capital, while the student was 
out for a picnic with some friends, the stranger again 
appeared. Disgusted at some poetry of their own 
which the students began reciting, the big fellow threw 
himself in a rage upon the ground, suddenly turned into 
a tiger, and ate up several of the company. 

Stories of foxes who, as extraordinarily beautiful 
damsels, fascinate young men, fill the book. Some- 
times they are described as being married and making 
faithful wives. A gentleman in Chengtu, named Cho, 
had such a wife at one time. I am assured that she 
raised quite a respectable family. Others bewitch their 
victims, gradually stealing away their vitality and 
breath. 

Similar stories might be told of pigs, cows and 
monkeys, bees, spiders and snakes. The animal world 
is thus capable of transformation into human form. 

This is also true of the vegetable and mineral king- 
doms. Thus a man spending some time in a temple 
saw frequently two maidens walking together. He 
tried often to catch them, but when he did so they 
invariably disappeared. Later, he discovered that one, 
who was clothed in red had been a peony, while the 
other, who had always appeared in white, had been a 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 23 


lily. Trees, too, can transform themselves. They 
usually appear to men in dreams and ask them to make 
appointments at certain places. Arriving there, next 
day, they find only a tree. 

Similarly the king of a certain lake, observed float- 
ing out in the moonlight, with a gay company, was, in 
the morning discovered to be a big log. A flurry of 
angry voices, attended by misfortunes to those who 
have aroused their enmity, may be traced later to a 
cluster of leaves, transformed invisibly into angry 
fetishes. 

So is it with minerals. Men have met the sun and 
moon walking about the earth! Once, in ancient times, 
the five planets came and dwelt with a certain monarch 
and gave him sage advice. As for the stars, they are 
constantly mingling with men. Whirlwinds and storms 
are some such sprites embarked upon a journey. Little 
whiffs of smoke which melt away in the atmosphere are 
sure signs of some transformed gnome, and noxious 
vapours are among the most subtle of antagonists. It 
is especially dangerous to erect anything exactly oppo- 
site a doorway, as this species seems to travel in 
straight lines and will, if obstructed, fly straight into 
the home, with disastrous consequences to the in- 
mates. Thus the whole of the lower order of creation 
is regarded in a way quite contrary to our Western 
idea of things. It is animate and intelligent, well- 
organized and capable of the most sudden and strange 
transformations. 

Crude Classification. 
Long generations have naturally given a crude classi- 


24 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


fication to these strange creatures. Popularly they are 
spoken of as Jinn, Yao, Little Spirits and Ch’i. The 
Jinn are, in general, lower forms of animal, vegetable 
and mineral, transformed by contact with the human 
body or some parts of it. The Yao are almost always 
animals possessed of this transforming power. The 
Little Spirits, invisible to grown-up people, but often 
seen by small children, are diminutive dwarfs or elves. 
The Ch’i is simply some form of noxious vapour. All, 
however, can assume human, and other forms, at will. 
All Ethical. 

Finally, many of these transforming things can be- 
come malevolent spirits, and are greatly feared by the 
people, and tremendously influence their actions and 
social life. 

The effect of all this upon the popular Oriental 
mind, reinforced by accumulated centuries of garbled 
tales, and with the mysterious world all about to con- 
firm the faith, cannot readily be imagined by an Occi- 
dental. Here are inscrutable powers with which every 
man must reckon. Naturally there are good and bad 
among them. Some are simply indifferent flower- 
fairies. Others are even of superior virtue. They have 
cultivated their animal, vegetable or mineral essence, 
as the case may be, and have, so, attained immortal- 
ity. These rarely interfere with man in an antagonistic 
way; they may even assist him. It is those of a malev- 
olent nature, bent upon their own enrichment at the 
expense, or even the destruction of mankind, that are 
most generally spoken of, and most generally feared. 

Thus the Little Spirits work all manner of mischief 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 25 


in a household. Things are torn, spoiled, stolen. The 
household rice, even while steaming, is saturated with 
filth and rendered unfit to eat. An evangelist recently 
told me of a sister’s house infested in this way. He 
went in to pray with the family, when down came a tile 
and hit him on the head. All an enemy needs to do is 
to whittle a stick about the size and shape of a doll, 
throw it into your home, and you will have a number 
of such tantalizing imps with which to deal. Then you 
must indeed beware, for, sickness, accident, even fire 
and death, will follow speedily. 

Children are constantly warned to beware of Jinn. 
In no case must they allow their noses to bleed, or 
excreta from their body to fall upon certain shrubs and 
insects. The banana tree is especially to be shunned. 
The penalty for carelessness will be to have these ex- 
creta become Jinn, steal away the child’s vigour and 
bring about an untimely death. 

Women, too, often live in terror, especially at certain 
periods of life when they should be most guarded and 
serene of soul. For months before she brings a little 
life into the world, the mother must be ever on her 
guard. She must not eat rabbit soup or flesh, in any 
form; in the event of her doing so, the little child 
would surely be born with a hare lip. No one dare 
move a bed, a cupboard, or any other article of heavy 
furniture. These invisible forces (especially the earth 
spirits) would undoubtedly retaliate by a possible de- 
struction of life. To repair a building, even near by, 
would send the woman into speedy retreat, or convul- 
sions at the possible thought of dire consequences. Not 


26 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


even a nail must be driven, for fear the result would 
be that some of these lurking spirits might be pierced 
through. This would inevitably mean a child born 
blind! 

The Yao are not less notorious for destruction to 
man. Larger than Jinn, they command an even more 
vindictive and subtle power, and work calamity on a 
wider scale. They are said to be armed with flying 
swords, which they can shoot out of their mouths and, 
although their victims may struggle for a time, death 
is sure. 

A good illustration of the Yao is the sort that causes 
drought. He is called a “ han-pah ” and is described 
as having one eye in the top of his head. He has also 
an upturned nose, which is the cause of the destruction 
he brings; for, if it rains, of course the water runs 
down his nostrils. When these freaks put in an ap- 
pearance, therefore, there is sure to be a drought. Vice 
versa, a drought is a sure sign that they are in the 
neighbourhood. At such times, the whole community 
must bestir itself. The Yao are to be seized and thrown 
into a cesspool if that be possible; but who is ever so 
clever? Men stand above the city gateways sprinkling 
water constantly with the thought either of preventing 
them entering, or of driving them from the city. 
Another favourite way to get rid of the Yao is to give 
a great theatrical to the rain-god. At the close, an 
actor dresses up as a “‘ han-pah ” and secretes himself 
somewhere. With a shout all seek him. When dis- 
covered he is dragged forth to be hanged (actor 
fashion) before the god. This is supposed not only to 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 27 


please the god and get him to send rain, but also to 
frighten away other lurking “ han-pahs ” lest a similar 
fate befall them. 

Prostration of Powers. 

Brief as this outline is, enough has been said to show 
the fact that this whole system of belief arises from an 
inadequate interpretation of phenomena, and also to 
furnish a glimpse of its disturbing effect upon the 
people. It would be erroneous, however, to conclude 
that all classes are held in its grip. There was a day 
(as may be gathered from the evidence of literature 
and institutions) when many even among the highest 
of the nation were firm believers. The viceregal yamen 
in the capital of Szechwan had a cave sacred to an 
immortal fox, at which shrine the viceroys worshipped. 
Today, the educated openly scoff, although in reality 
not a few have failed to shake off such beliefs and still 
hold them—secretly. As for the masses, they have 
scant means of knowing otherwise. Fairies, fetishes, 
fiends, surround them on every side. ‘These have 
knowledge and powers which man, unaided, can not 
successfully comprehend or combat. He must ac- 
knowledge his inferiority, therefore, and prostrate his 
powers before those of freaks about him. 
Transmigration. 

To all this primitive animism (as it is usually called) 
with its fears and paralysis of progress among this pop- 
ulous people, Buddhism, from quite another angle, has 
contributed other distressing thoughts. It fs the simple 
teaching that the souls of the wicked dead return to 
this world, reborn as beasts, birds, dogs, cattle, snakes, 


28 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


snails, and insects innumerable. The pictures upon 
the walls of Buddhist temples depict this in detail, 
showing how it has seized the popular imagination and 
emotion. First are seen the ten great wards of hell, 
with all their gruesome punishments. ‘Then, at the 
end, stands the great wheel of transformation. As it 
turns, the individual comes forth to this earth again, 
born as official, man, woman, fox, frog, worm, etc., etc., 
etc., according to his degree of good or evil, while on 
his former pilgrimage here. ‘Thus, in the world of 
nature around them, these masses of mankind live in 
constant thought and fear, not only of the fetishes 
already described, but of the souls of friends, foes and 
villains returned to life to worry or wound them. 

It is to be noted that here, again, we are not wholly 
alien to such a thought in our home lands. We have 
still among us those who fear to touch a toad lest it 
give warts, or to injure a frog lest it turn the cow’s milk 
bloody; who believe a rooster’s crowing means guests 
and a dog’s howling portends death. In China, there 
is much of such credulous belief and interpretation. 
One familiar rhyme runs as follows: 


“When a dog comes, then riches, 
When a pig comes, woes, 
When a cat comes, run quickly, 

And buy mourning clothes.” 


Now pigs are among the most numerous stock- 
animals in China, and are constantly being driven in 
droves along highways leading to the markets. Being 
as proverbially stubborn in the Orient as in the Occi- 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 29 


dent, they, not infrequently, turn aside and force their 
way into some open door. At once, there follows a 
great consternation. This is not because such an ani- 
mal has never crossed the threshold before. It is quite 
possible that the houseman’s own wee porker is near— 
tied by one leg to the door or serenely snoozing by the 
bedside. It is rather, as the rhyme just quoted has it, 
because of the poverty and ill-luck which this stranger 
is supposed to bring. The driver makes frantic efforts 
to get it away, but the owner of the house will not be 
so readily placated. A lively tongue-tussle, so common 
in China, follows. When it is finally argued out before 
the whole colony of neighbours and passersby, all agree 
that the householder must be apologized to, and given 
a small sum in cash. Especially must a piece of red 
bunting be hung up, to ward off evil and bring 
good luck. 

The consternation caused by a strange cat prowling 
cannot readily be imagined by people in the West. It 
is not a matter of firing a bootjack (if such were to be 
had); rather is it regarded as a solemn warning that 
the inexorable runners from the lower regions have 
arrived in the neighbourhood and that someone must 
prepare to start on the long journey. 

Awe of Ancestors. 

Yet even these forebodings are, comparatively speak- 
ing, trifling, if compared with the awe and terror that 
grips the mind with the thought that ancestors or 
enemies may, and do inhabit various forms of animal 
life about them. When a snake comes into a mud- 
floored hut one would imagine that the first impulse on 


30 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the part of its inhabitants would be to kill it or drive 
it away. Not so the believer in transmigration. It is 
the general conviction that a snake’s coming signifies 
the visit of some ancestor. It is treated, therefore, 
with all veneration. Prostrations are frequently made 
before it, cash-paper and candles are burned and when 
the reptile leaves it is graciously escorted upon its way. 

Similarly, attacks by animals are attributed to evil- 
minded spirits or enemies. A dog bites or a horse kicks 
someone. ‘That is readily explained as an act of re- 
venge from some antagonist of the past. Sometime, 
somewhere, the unfortunate victim offended him and 
he is now getting even. One of the tenants of our 
university was recently gored by his water-buffalo and 
died. It was quite evident that some enemy had 
allowed himself to be sold into the owner’s possession 
purposely to get revenge. The buffalo was pronounced 
a reincarnation, and although the family could ill afford 
to part with their only plow-animal he was severely 
beaten and sold. 

Buddhist Benignity. 

Such severity, however, is contrary to Buddhist 
teaching. It would have all life conserved and treated 
with the utmost courtesy. The story of the Buddhist 
priest who gently guided the fat louse back into the 
ragged folds of his grey gown, with the remark, “ For- 
sake not my poor provision, dear brother,” may be only 
a story, but it is highly an illustrative one. Long ago, 
the motive may have been a sympathy for the sacred- 
ness of life; today, the motive is decidedly mixed. 
With some it is doubtless the fear of injuring reincar- 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 31 


nated being—who knows who? It cannot be a happy 
thought to be picking the bones of a chicken, even if 
one knew definitely, that they were those of a certain 
former creditor. But with many, it is doubtless the 
fear of incurring another revenge at the hands of their 
enemy and that probably a more bitter one, some later 
day. Naturally in China non-meat-eating societies are 
everywhere common. 

Release of Life. 

The prevalence of such belief may be best seen at 
the celebration of the great Buddhist festivity for the 
release of life. This is held on the eighth of the fourth 
moon each year. Masses of the people assemble in the 
temples and by the riverside to release life, for it is the 
anniversary of Buddha’s birth. In the temples there 
is a ceaseless reading of the sacred books, burning of 
incense, and “ kowtowing ” before the idols. By the 
riverside, thousands of people line the banks, or pass 
to and froin boats. Most important of all are the tubs, 
old buckets, vats and cisterns filled with slugs, grubs, 
crabs, turtles, eels, etc., diligently collected for days 
previously from nearby fields and ponds and streams. 
For a few cash the poorer people buy a nondescript 
collection of these creatures in a bowl and cast them 
into the stream. The more wealthy may invest many 
cash or silver dollars and have such purchases set 
free by servants. But the purpose is much the same. 
It is the release of life, thus laying up merit for the 
future and—equally important—doing good to possible 
friends, now deceased, or avoiding revenge from some 
Waiting enemy, 


32 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


It, in no wise, appears to disconcert the faith of these 
people that certain bare-legged coolies scramble about 
in the water, seeking immediately to seize and sell 
again the prisoners thus set free, or that everyone real- 
izes that all were free before they were stored up for 
sale. The purchaser has done his duty, has released 
life. What more is to be expected of him? Old women 
and the lower classes are naturally the best customers; 
yet even the scholar who smiles in a superior way at it 
all, not infrequently stops long enough to make a small 
purchase. It pays to conform to public opinion, at 
least, and who knows, in this strange world with all its 
sophistries, but that there may be something in it, 
after all? It costs little, and, in any case, one is on 
the safe side. That everything is dear to Buddha’s 
heart is generally agreed. Popular parlance even de- 
clares that the little ringlets which invariably cover the 
head of his image are swarms of snails which during 
his lifetime habitually made their home in his hair. 
Sorcerer Strategy. 

When the depredations of these Jinns, Yaos and 
spirits of the transformed dead become unendurable, 
however, there is a more drastic way of dealing with 
them than the kindly methods of Buddhism. This 
shorter and sterner way is to call in the “ twan kung,” 
a sorcerer of the Taoist school. You will find him in 
his little shop upon the street, or, it may be, you will 
only find his wife or his apprentice, for he himself may 
be sleeping after a long night’s session at some needy 
centre. In the shop will usually be found a large, low 
bureau piled high with gods, big and little, by the 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 33 


score. These are the real source of his might. It is 
as their agent that he claims the power of being able 
to detect the exact sort of fairy, fiend or fetish that is 
causing sickness or other disaster in any household, 
and it is by their aid that he can entrap the interlopers 
and grant his customers release. 

His visits to the household which is being disturbed 
by unseemly visits of these various intruders are almost 
invariably made at night. He comes with his gods— 
for convenience usually painted on scrolls—and his 
apprentices. These latter carry drums, gongs, horns, 
etc., and the usual books of curses and charms. After 
a careful examination of the place, and, invariably, a 
comfortable meal, the sorcerer hangs up his scrolls, 
worships them all in turn, and then the company line 
up for the real work of the night. The books of charms 
and curses are produced and the recitation begins. 

At first this is slow and broken with occasional 
beatings of gongs and drums, or blowing of horns. An 
hour later, things have livened up a little. Two or 
three hours farther on, and the noise and shouting can 
be heard far and wide in the neighbouring streets. By 
midnight or early morning, there is a sudden sky- 
piercing shriek and shout of triumph accompanied by 
the full powers of gongs, drums and horns. With wild 
gesticulations the leader avers that the miscreants have 
been driven forth from their victim. They are in- 
stantly followed and cunningly entrapped in earthen 
jars which have been set ready for their deception and 
incarceration. Then, with a sudden swish of his wand, 
the magician seals the jars, covers them over with 


34 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


many-coloured cloths, and carries them forth to their 
burial or to his home, where the jars remain as proof 
of his skill and, incidentally, as an advertisement for 
other needy customers. If, despite all this, or perhaps 
aided by it, the patient should die, such is declared to 
be his fate. The sorcerer did his best, but who can 
withstand the decrees of the gods? ‘These fetishes and 
fiends were, after all, their messengers. Who can 
struggle against them? 

Illustration of Reincarnation. 

A recently recorded event may serve as a closing 
illustration. Young Wong Kang had had reverses and 
found it difficult to pay his pressing creditors. He 
bethought him of an old uncle to whom, in happier 
days, he had loaned a considerable sum of money. 
Setting out on his journey, he discovered his uncle after 
many days. On arrival, he found the old man dying. 
Delicately he broached the matter of the former loans. 

“True! ” sighed the dying man. “ Sadly true... . 
I owe it all . . . but some debtors have deceived me. 
4%. I die in povertys.7 eli cannot pay, va eas 

“* But,” he murmured, “I will not forget. . . . I will 
remember you when I reach the Yellow Springs ”— 
then he sighed again and died. 

The nephew was not heartless. He buried the aged 
relative even at the cost of incurring more debts. Then 
he wended his way stoically homeward. Arrived there, 
he was somewhat enheartened to learn that an addition 
had come to his household in the person of a baby 
mule. He inquired carefully as to the day and hour of 
its arrival, but made no farther comment, save to order 


ANIMISM AND TRANSMIGRATION 35 


that the most diligent care be given to its welfare, and 
that it be excluded from all labour. It thrived wonder- 
fully, growing up unusually large, docile and sturdy. 

It seemed a costly pet to one so poor as Wong Kang, 
but he rigidly refused to allow the animal to work. 
One day, however, in his absence, a crisis came. The 
old bullock that ground the rice fell ill. By stealth the 
servants hitched up the mule in his place. He acted 
nobly, going round and round the stones with aged 
sophistry. 

A few weeks later another crisis was encountered. 
Again the overworked bullock failed them just in the 
rush of conveying rice to market. The mule was 
quietly hitched to the cart, when settling down to his 
task he lugged the big load through wretched roads 
a la mode noblesse oblige. 

Then, on the return journey through the narrow 
village streets, something happened. The cart was 
passing a fruit-vendor’s stand when suddenly the mule 
became transformed, as though possessed by some 
maniacal power. He reared and lunged, snorted and 
roared, struck out savagely with his feet and snapped 
viciously with foaming jaws, until the vendor’s stand 
and fruits were a mass of scrambled pulp and splinters. 

As for the unfortunate vendor himself, he crouched 
terror-stricken behind a neighbouring wayside idol, 
praying wildly for deliverance. A moment later and 
the infuriated animal plunged his way. Then the 
courage of despair seized the wretched fellow and he 
rushed out desperately armed with a leg of his broken 
table. 


36 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


“Hold! Hold! Don’t hit.... We'll pay! ” 
shouted the muleteer. “It’s young squire Wong’s 
mule...°.).” | 

As the vendor heard these words, there was another 
and an instant transformation. He fell prostrate 
before the mule, while the latter stood towering above 
him like a destroying angel. 

““T know you! I know you! ” shrieked the fruit- 
dealer at the infuriated quadruped, “ you’re old Uncle 
Wong. I owe you that debt, but save me, save me, 
and I swear to pay all . . . even double. .. .” 

The mule turned his head sideways, gave the man a 
gruesome glare out of his left eye, then backed out 
and trotted quietly home. 

The vendor paid up promptly. So did several others 
whom the nephew did not know, most of them care- 
fully adding liberal interest. Needless to say that all 
knew that the gentle mule was the aged uncle returned 
to earth. 

Lest this story should appear to touch too light a 
key, let us recall the reader’s mind to the bondage to 
stones, stars, trees, animals and vindictive enemies to 
which the masses of great China’s manhood and es- 
pecially her patient womanhood are so widely and 
bitterly bound by this imperfect and primitive inter- 
pretation of nature. 

Animism and Reincarnation! Such are two of the 
widespread currents, still flowing strong in the religious 
culture of this vast land. 


II 
PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 


HERE is another phenomenon not embraced in 
our former classification of animal, vegetable 
and mineral. It is even more intimately con- 

nected with man, his weal and woe. It is the very man 
himself, his soul. This also has its interpretation and 
its story, which are bound up with such conditions as 
sleep, dreams, catalepsy, trance, ecstasy, and life after 
death. 

Riddle of Sleep. 

To begin with, there is the old riddle of sleep. 
Where is the man while he is slumbering? His body 
lies there, to all appearances unoccupied by its master 
save that it is breathing. People pass to and fro, and 
converse all about him. When he awakes he knows 
nothing of what has happened. To the primitive mind 
there seems but one interpretation. The man has 
really been away. ‘The soul has somehow left the 
body and gone off on a journey. When the individual 
awakes, does he not recall travelling to distant cities, 
meeting friends, visiting scenes he may or may not 
recognize? It seems plain, therefore, that the soul can 
separate itself from the body and go off upon adven- 
tures of its own. 

The Liao Kiai, previously mentioned, is full of such 


37 


88 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


wonderful dreams. Men travel to distant lands, visit 
the next world, even travel through their future lives. 
The story of a certain Dr. Tseng furnishes a good 
illustration. 

Dr. Tseng’s Dream. 

Dr. Tseng was a young student who had just tried 
for his doctor’s degree. Visiting a temple one day with 
some companions, the party was detained by the rain 
and Tseng fell asleep. Suddenly, in his dream, a 
couple of criers came to.announce that he had really 
passed his examinations. He hurried to Peking and 
appeared before the emperor. The latter was most 
gracious and appointed him to a very high position. 
At first Tseng was just, but soon began to abuse his 
powers. He forced property from the poor, revenged 
old insults, even kidnapped a woman he formerly 
fancied. Then he was accused, condemned, stripped of 
all, and banished from the court to the far-off province 
of Yunnan. 

As he and his wife were trudging, footsore and heart- 
broken, up a long mountain side, they were suddenly 
attacked by robbers. The guard fled, Tseng cried for 
mercy and told who he was. 

“‘ Ho,” they shouted, “then you are the man who 
has ruined us.” 

The next instant he heard the thud of his own head 
as it fell upon the ground. He was instantly seized 
by two devils who whisked him off to the infernal 
regions. There he suffered excruciating agony, among 
other things having to drink in molten form several 
millions of dollars he had squeezed from his coun- 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 39 


trymen. Finally, after long and untold tortures, 
he was placed upon the wheel of transmigration and 
with a mighty whirl found himself again in this 
world, this time born as a daughter of the basest 
poverty. 

His parents soon sold him (her) as a slave to a rich 
man whose wife beat him and burned him with hot 
irons. Then one day the rich man was killed by rob- 
bers. ‘Tseng, who had escaped by hiding under the 
bed, was accused of the crime and sentenced to death 
by the slicing process. At this point Tseng’s com- 
panions heard him moaning and awakened him. It 
was surely time. During his dream he had travelled 
through three stages of existence! 

Calling Back the Soul. 

This belief that the soul can leave the body during 
sleep is the basis of much distress. Thus, a mother 
riding home in her sedan with her child, after an 
evening visit, lights three sticks of incense and places 
them upon the roof of her chair, at the same time softly 
calling her child by name. She fears that the child, 
falling asleep, will lose its soul. The light and the 
calling are to guide it safely home. 

Playing about the home, children become frightened, 
or ill. Then, if the child does not recover, the mother, 
for seven nights in succession, stands before her door- 
way, an egg in one hand and three sticks of incense in 
the other. Slowly and sorrowfully she calls the child 
by its pet name to return: 

“Little Gold Baby,” she cries, “come back 
again. If you have fallen into a ditch, if you are 


40 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


in a well, if the dog has frightened you away, quickly, 
quickly, little Gold Baby, come back home; come 
quickly.” 

Inside, another member of the family thinks to 
soothe the restless little body by replying, ‘‘ It is com- 
ing. It has returned.” 

Next the egg is taken, tied about with black thread, 
and wrapped with joss paper. All is dipped in oil and 
ignited. The egg thus cooked must then be fed to the 
child. ‘The thread which has taken on a seemingly 
miraculous element (being well-wrapped with paper it 
has not burned), is then tied about the child’s wrist— 
the left if it be that of a boy, the right that of a girl. 
This whole programme is a long, sorrowful process, 
but is considered sure. The child’s soul, charmed by 
the egg and tied by the mystic thread, cannot now 
escape. 

Should this all sadly fail, it simply means, to these 
simple minds, that the soul was not properly called, 
and so did not really return. 

Naturally this idea of calling back the soul is not 
confined to the illness of children. When an adult is 
sick, resort is usually first had to medicine. But if 
the illness does not respond to these lotions, then it is 
common to call in a sorcerer (twan kung), as de- 
scribed in our preceding chapter. His theory is that 
the man’s soul has wandered away from the body, 
and that some wandering demon has taken its place. 
By means, therefore, of a god who has power over 
demons, he attempts to exorcise it. The sick man’s 
soul then returns—or does not. Possibly he has 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 41 


wandered too far away, or his time to die may have 
arrived. 
Cataleptic Conditions. 

Catalepsy, though apparently not very common, also 
accounts for some strange beliefs. Men are reported 
as falling into a comatose condition which may last for 
days, to return later and tell strange tales of their 
doings. Another story from Liao Kiai will serve as 
an illustration of this and other beliefs: 

In the province of Kwang-si there lived a scholar of 
some reputation named Sun. He was born with six 
fingers, was a simple-hearted fellow, believing too read- 
ily all that people told him. He was accordingly 
dubbed “ Silly Sun ” by his companions. In the same 
city lived a wealthy, aristocratic family who had a 
daughter of great beauty named A-Bao. Quite natu- 
rally all the youths of the neighbourhood were rivals 
for her hand. 

One day, a few of Sun’s fellows, persuaded him, as 
a joke, to apply, and he accordingly sent a go-between, 
as the custom is, to present his appeal. Miss A-Bao 
replied laughingly that if he would cut off his sixth 
finger she would marry him. This Sun proceeded to 
do, and, as a result, almost bled to death. Miss A-Bao 
was rather taken aback when she heard the news, but 
told the go-between that if Sun would now cut the 
“Silly ” from his name, she would consent. Sun was 
much piqued over this and tried to forget her. 

At the time of the spring festival, however, when 
“men and women go forth to worship at their ancestors’ 
graves, Sun heard that A-Bao would be at a certain 


42 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


place and thought he would like to see the girl who 
had made such a fool of him. He found her sur- 
rounded by a large group of admirers. She was beau- 
tiful, indeed—charming! When, after a time, she 
moved away, and the group of young bloods was about 
to depart, they found Sun apparently rooted to the 
spot. By dint of dragging and pushing his friends got 
him home where he threw himself upon his bed and 
refused to stir. 

He lay there in a state of unconsciousness, and 
would not awaken when called. His people, thinking 
that his soul had fled, went about the fields calling to 
him to return. He showed no signs of recovery, how- 
ever, and when they shook him he only answered in a 
sleepy sort of a voice, that he was at A-Bao’s home. 
Thereupon a magician was summoned. He secured an 
old suit of Sun’s clothes, also some grass-matting and 
proceeded to Miss A-Bao’s home and to her own room. 
Summoning the spirit in due form, he went back 
towards Sun’s house. 

By the time he reached the door, Sun groaned and 
recovered consciousness. He was then able to tell all 
that had happened. When the young lady had left 
the group on the day of the festival, Sun could not 
bear to part with her, but had, he said, followed her to 
her home. There he had remained for three days, till, 
almost famished by hunger, he longed to run home and 
get something to eat, but seemed to have forgotten the 
way. He was able to describe all the articles of toilet 
and furniture in A-Bao’s room without making a single 
mistake. 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 43 


Even then, it seems, Miss A-Bao’s heart remained 
hardened. It was not until after a second attack of 
catalepsy, which lasted three days and in which he was 
quite as though dead, save that the part over his heart 
had not grown cold, that the girl finally relented and 
the pair were wed. 

The story is, of course, only tradition, but it illus- 
trates the common belief that, during such times, the 
soul can leave the body and go off upon adventures of 
its own. 

Clairvoyants Are Common. 

Telepathy and trance, too, are the bases of some 
strange beliefs. Ability to throw oneself into a hyp- 
notic state seems comparatively common. The result 
is that Chinese clairvoyants are numerous. They are 
usually old women, but men also practise the art. 
Their customers are people in distress. Someone is ill 
in the household, or business is failing, or some family 
misfortune is spreading. It is presumed that the an- 
cestors of the household know the remedy that should 
be applied. Indeed, it is quite possible that it is they 
who are sending these misfortunes as punishment for 
some wrongdoing. Consequently, for three nights in 
succession the applicant worships his three lines of 
ancestry. Then, with a peck of rice, ninety-six cash as 
fees, some wine, cash-paper, candles and incense with 
which the medium is to worship her gods, he repairs 
to the clairvoyant’s home. 

After worshipping her idols, the old lady not infre- 
quently lies down upon a couch and covers her face 
with a red cloth. Then, after a time, she begins to call 


44 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the visitor. Strange to say, she may call him by his 
“private name ” which only members of his own fam- 
ily know, or are allowed to use. She may even call 
him by his long-forgotten “baby name.” Surely it is 
his ancestors who are speaking! 

Then he listens with awe-struck silence as she be- 
rates him roundly, probably upon certain family affairs 
that have been managed wrongly. These latter are 
generally glaring generalities, but a few facts, due pos- 
sibly to telepathy, are sufficient proof of the presence 
of the ancestor. It seems quite clear to the supplicant 
and others that the dead can at least temporarily take 
the place of another soul and use the body for their 
communication. 

Demon Possession. 

From this it is an easy step to the belief that men 
may become possessed by spirits either of gods, dead 
men or devils. Possession of the soul’s place, as we 
have seen above, is a common explanation of sickness. 
Possession by the gods is more rare. ‘The party offer- 
ing himself for this purpose appears before the image 
and worships it in the usual fashion. Then certain 
abettors cluster about him in the dim light of the can- 
dies. Slowly at first, but with ever-increasing clamour, 
they read the appropriate books, and beat the neces- 
sary gongs. Suddenly, the victim, who has been stand- 
ing throughout, as though half in a trance, leaps into 
the air with a shout. With a sword or stick in his 
hand, he begins to lash about, sometimes wounding 
himself severely. This goes on until he sinks exhausted 
upon the floor, His inarticulate mutterings are, ’tis 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 45 


said, the message of the god. He may even answer 
questions in a rambling sort of way. But if the ques- 
tioner cannot understand the abettors can, and are 
naturally ready with an appropriate explanation of 
the oracle. 

Boxer Hypnosis. 

A somewhat similar hypnotic ecstasy is often at the 
basis of Boxer and kindred practises. At times, the 
Boxers are half hypnotized by chanting their books 
before the idols and beating of gongs as described 
above. A man who drilled with them for a time and 
later gave them up as dangerous, states the practise in 
his squad as follows: 

“The recruit was led out at night into the darkness 
and ordered to place three sticks of incense upright in 
the earth. Three more he was to hold in his right hand 
at arm’s length, his eyes fixed upon both gleams of 
light so as to keep them in a Straight line. Then the 
operator stood behind him reading or rather chanting 
charms about the twenty-eight constellations of star 
spirits, at the same time slowly slapping the recruit 
upon the shoulder.” 

Thus, one by one, the recruits would become hypno- 
tized and leap and shout at the least suggestion from 
the commander. Struck or pricked, they seemed to 
feel no pain, so that it was easy to persuade them and 
others that they were invulnerable to shot and sword. 
Most of the recruits were simple-minded, impish fel- 
lows. Healthy, hearty, hard-working sons of the fields 
were usually too difficult, and were sent away as unre- 
sponsive to the star spirits’ influence, 


ed 


46 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Here, again, the belief is that the spirits of the gods 
or stars come down and take possession of the man, so 
it is they who speak and act, not he. 

Star Souls. ; 

These stars, it will be recalled, are supposedly the 
souls, or at least the dwelling-places of the souls of 
men. They have been men of note, rulers, statesmen, 
men of high literary degree, or even evil men, notorious 
in the life of the nation. Thus there are stars who 
favour men and are lucky, while others are enemies of 
men, or of the present rulers of the nation, and seek to 
injure its citizens. Among these latter, comets are 
most conspicuous. ‘They are the souls or abode of 
some notorious rebel who wishes to stir up trouble in 
the nation. Their appearance is a sure sign that “ sol- 
diers and swords” will follow. The thought is that 
after the comet’s appearance as a sign in the heavens 
to all malcontents, it then descends and, taking pos- 
session of some one as leader, usually the chief rebel, 
commences his campaign. Naturally Halley’s comet, 
in 1910, was looked upon as such a herald of woe, 
and did much to predispose people to the belief that 
the great revolution which followed, in 1911, was 
inevitable. 

Robbers and rebels are ever ready to use such as 
omens of the anger of heaven against the nations’ rulers 
and stir up riot to their own enrichment and to the dire 
distress of peaceable citizens. Thus the fruits of this 
seemingly simple belief in the freedom of the soul to 
ramble at will, shows itself but too frequently in Boxer- 
ism and rebellion with their attendant barbarities. 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 47 


Immortality. 

With the soul thus capable of detaching itself and 
carrying on a separate career, it is easy for the Chinese 
to believe in a life after death, that is, in the continued 
existence of the soul. Indeed, according to the popular 
belief, each individual has ten souls. More accurately, 
he has three of one kind and seven of another. The 
three former belong to the Yang or active principle 
and are the spirit proper usually called “ hwen.” Dur- 
ing life, they reside in the liver, etc. As to the seven, 
they belong to the Yin or passive principle and are 
therefore of the earth earthy. They are called the 
animal spirits or “ pei.”” Some define them as the five 
senses and the two arms. They are said to reside dur- 
ing life in the lungs, etc. At death they scatter, or 
enter the ground, so they need concern us no further. 
Three Souls. 

It is not so with the three ‘‘ hwen ” or spirits proper. 
Each has its own destiny and history. One goes to the 
grave with the body. The second resides in the ances- 
tral tablet, while the third goes upon its great pilgrim- 
age to the world of shades. Volumes have been written 
upon the history of the latter, alone. We can only 
sketch briefly the story of each. Let us first follow the 
soul which accompanies the corpse to the grave. 

The Corpse Soul. 

The dead body is to be the eternal home of this soul, 
and as the latter has its own ways and means of getting 
back at the living should they neglect it, a proper fear 
of consequences will command attention to its needs, 
even should a proper affection be wanting. These de- 


48 CHINESE COLTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


mands are by no means simple. Indeed, they require 
the most minute care, endless anxiety, and much money 
on the part of the mourners. Let us follow, for a time, 
some of these demands of the dead. 

Immediately at death, sheets of paper punched to 
resemble strings of cash are burned. Some of this 
pseudo-money is for the spirit’s own needs. Some, of 
a peculiar shape, is to the star gods, which one by 
one have presided over each year of the life of the 
departed. t 

Next, the body is bathed. This should be a simple 
process. Usually, however, it is accompanied by great 
trepidation. The fear is that the devils which may 
have caused death, or others which, as we shall see, 
have come to accompany the dead to purgatory, may 
seize the attendant. Consequently, instead of being a 
sad, tender rite, it is often turned over to a beggar, who 
throws a few ladles of water over the body, and then 
wipes it hurriedly. The rag used in the latter process 
is then carefully burned. If the embers form them- 
selves as writing characters then the deceased will be 
born again as a man, if as flowers he will, in the 
next life, be a woman, etc. The beggar then col- 
lects one cash for each year of the deceased’s age 
together with some of his old clothing as a reward, and 
hurries away. 

Clothing. 

The hair of the deceased is then properly dressed, 
and the body clothed. This clothing consists of the 
dead man’s best garments or new clothing if need be. 
If the family can afford it, a large number of garments 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 49 


are placed upon the body. These are always in some 
odd numbers, as five, seven, or nine, that is, the 
“Yang ” numbers in the case of a man, and two, four, 
six, etc., or the “‘ Yin ” numbers in the case of a woman. 
If the dead has been an official, even though of a very 
low rank, his official robes are used, so all may give 
comfort and respect to the soul which is to reside 
within. 

The Coffin. 

The coffin is also a matter of great importance. It 
is to be the future house of this soul and body; so must 
be strong and secure against wind and water. Ac- 
cordingly the Chinese coffin is not made of such thin 
boards as are used in the West. It is rather of great 
slabs of tree trunk, five to seven inches thick. The 
bottom is flat, but the lid is a great oval slab like the 
sides. Even when empty, it usually takes half-a-dozen 
men to carry it. 

Being such an important matter, the coffin may have 
been purchased many years before death. Indeed, it 
is quite common, for a filial son to present his parents 
with a coffin as a sign of great affection, early in life, 
and for the latter to be long seen, placed to good ad- 
vantage in the guest room. If it has not been secured 
before, it must now be purchased. It is no time for 
economy. The family will purchase to the limit of its 
ability. 

Arrived safely, the poor strew the bottom with pine 
or palm branches, and the rich with soft silk floss. 
Then the body is frequently wound with many yards 
of cotton or silk, according to circumstances. This 


50 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


latter not only serves as clothing but prevents the 
bones from shaking apart, and thus disturbing the 
rest of the soul. 

It is also necessary to take proper steps to preserve 
the flesh from decay. To this end, a small gold bean 
is sometimes given the dying man. More commonly, 
bracelets of jade or other ornaments of gold and jade 
are used. Such was the last request of a little girl-wife 
as she lay dying. In whispers barely audible, she 
urged that her jade bracelet and hairpin be not for- 
gotten. With the rich, golden images, rings and other 
articles are occasionally buried. But the Chinese are 
an exceedingly judicious and economical people and 
most generally prefer to make paper representations of 
things, which seem to answer quite as well in the spirit 
world, and cost much less in this. 

Charms. 

After the corpse is properly placed and all is in 
order, a priest approaches the bier, and with a few 
muttered charms and appropriate gesticulations drives 
out any demon that may be trying to occupy the coffin 
with its rightful owner. Then the lid is quickly slid 
shut, securely fastened and made water, air, and dust 
proof by means of glue and shellac. To further guard 
against evil influences, a bowl is placed upside down 
upon the coffin lid; all is then made secure. 

Mourning Ceremonies. 

The coffin is placed in the great guest hall, or, if the 
people are poor, in the living-room of the house. No- 
tice has meantime been sent out to relatives and 
friends, and, at the appropriate time, guests begin to 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 51 


arrive. The eldest son, in case of the death of a parent, 
kneels beside the coffin, and bows his head to the 
ground three times in deep obeisance to each guest as 
he enters. This son and all the family are dressed in 
“ sack-cloth.” This is literally so, at least of the outer 
garment, which is of coarse bagging. All mourners 
wear white, that being the colour of the shadow world. 
The guests bring gifts of food, money, fire-crackers, 
complimentary essays and clothing. 

In the case of the mother of a high official who died 
recently in Chengtu, her photo was hung up in a large 
guest-room, with a table before it upon which were 
placed great candles, incense, flowers, the white stork 
and other symbols. The mourners knelt by the table 
and prostrated themselves as each guest approached. 
Most of the guests presented complimentary scrolls in 
pairs, or small banners with complimentary characters 
written thereon. 

Selecting the Grave. 

During these days, if the matter has not already 
been decided during the lifetime of the one now dead, 
diligent search is being made for a suitable grave. 
This, possibly, is the most vital of all the processes 
arranged for the peace of the body and its soul. It 
requires the calling in of the geomancer. He must go 
forth for days, or weeks, or months, or even years, to 
survey the country for conditions which will satisfy 
the stars, the planets, the five elements, the Yin and 
Yang, the wind and water, the elder and younger 
brothers, many relatives and friends, and last but not 
least, the Green Dragon and the White Tiger. When 


52 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY — 


all these conditions have been arranged, and, not im- 
probably, the geamancer has secured a spot which he 
himself can recommend at a good financial profit, the 
funeral may at last take place. 

Even then, there is a possibility that the deceased’s 
family may be too poor, or the coffin may need to be 
transferred to some distant province, or the time may 
be unpropitious. Not infrequently, therefore, coffins 
are kept in or about the home for long periods of time. 
Indeed, in despair, the-family may rent a small space 
for such in a neighbouring temple where, as the years 
roll by, the wood decays, foul odours fill the air, and 
disease germs destroy the living. Yet what matter if 
the soul is presumably at peace? That is the vital 
question with posterity. 

The Pall-Bearers. 

In most cases, however, especially in the case of the 
poor, the burial takes place within a few days or a 
week. The preceding day is given over to a feast at 
which all the friends, relatives and others who have 
sent gifts are included. ‘These are there again the 
day of the funeral, each with his head swathed in a 
strip of white cloth at the family’s expense. The 
carriers come with their ropes, also poles for bind- 
ing along the sides and ends of the great black 
coffin, and smaller poles for their shoulders. Con- 
trary to our Western thought of a solemn hush over 
all, the scene is most animated. The carriers espe- 
cially seem to vie with one another in shouting orders 
at the top of their voices, which apparently no one 
obeys. Light carriers may do for an ordinary indi- 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 53 


vidual, but in the case of the wealthy there may be a 
score or more. 
Exorcisms. 

When all are ready, the priest takes the bowl from 
the top of the coffin and with a swish and muttered 
exorcisms, smashes it upon the ground. [If any stray 
devils have lodged therein, they are banished. He also 
commonly kills a rooster by slicing its neck, then 
throws it toward the entrance of the gateway. If the 
head points toward the door, there is danger from evil 
influences to the family. The dead bird must then be 
buried at the cross roads, if possible, to prevent mis- 
fortune. Another rooster is secured and tied upon the 
top of the coffin. These birds, as everyone knows, do 
not fear devils. Do they not crow in the early morning 
or in the night and frighten them away? This one will 
frighten any that might be inclined to come near the 
bier as it is borne along. 

Funeral Procession. 

Then the procession forms. One man goes ahead 
with cash paper to pay any tolls that may be exacted 
by small officials of the shadow world. He is followed 
by a man with a lantern or a torch to light the spirit 
on its way. Next may come musicians, carriers of the 
complimentary scrolls, priests in regalia, official um- 
brellas, crowds of friends walking and then the spirit 
tablet. This latter may be carried in great state in a 
special pagoda-shaped conveyance, or, in the case of 
the poor, in an ordinary chair, or even by the eldest 
son in his hands as he walks along. After this follows 
the bier, the sons of the dead and many friends and 


54 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


relatives apparently assisting the chanting carriers as 
they move slowly along. Behind these come other 
members of the family, as the women and many 
friends, riding mostly in chairs. 

Ceremony at the Grave. j 

Arrived at the grave, the ceremonies are simple. 
The geomancer with his compass sees that the coffin is 
in line with the earth’s pulse, kills the rooster which has 
ridden as guard upon the bier to the grave, sprinkles 
its blood about in a circle to protect the grave, and 
affixes a few of the blood-stained feathers to the coffin. 
The chicken itself is his property. The priests may or 
may not say a few words inviting the departed to rest 
in peace, and scatter some rice to feed hungry ghosts. 
Then the earth is piled up about the coffin, for the 
excavation is very slight, until a big, round hillock has 
been made. Shortly after this the chief mourners 
having secured some of the scattered rice and again 
prostrated themselves, all the concourse deports. 

Care of the Grave. 

Three days later, these chief mourners must again 
visit the grave to see that this home has been properly 
made, and also to present wine, pork, incense, cash 
paper and further prostrations. This is afterward re- 
peated usually twice a year, about the spring and 
autumn equinoxes. In addition, at such times, it is 
common to make gifts of clothing, horses, serving men, 
women, charcoal warmers, etc., even automobiles and 
great palaces nowadays, all of paper, and send them 
by means of fire to the departed, where they turn into 
the “ real thing ” as required in the land of shades. 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 55 


The more wealthy also plant trees about the spot and 
many buy a small piece of adjoining land and erect a 
house. This they rent to a trustworthy person at a 
nominal sum that he may guard the grave especially 
from thieves, who would rob the dead of their orna- 
ments and clothing, and occasionally it is believed from 
foreign devils, as we Westerners are named, who want 
the bones, etc., to sell for medicine. Some say that, in 
olden times, at the end of each dynasty orders came 
for all graves to be levelled. These dead had been 
the subjects of former Emperors while favourites of 
heaven, but must now be destroyed as their mas- 
ters had been. In recent history, however, this cus- 
tom no longer prevails, and the dead soul, protected 
and provided with the needs of his existence, as 
described, rests on to endless days or until forgotten 
by posterity. 

This one soul of the departed is now presumably at 
peace. We can only say presumably, however, for 
should the grave have been improperly selected or there 
be any lack of proper attention either before or after- 
ward, then the unhappy soul will make even greater 
trouble for its offspring. Thus graves are frequently 
shifted again and again until the dead is seemingly 
satisfied or the finances of the living are exhausted. 
An evangelist assures me that his father’s grave has 
been shifted at least thrice with the hope of avoiding 
impending disaster and restoring prosperity to his 
family. 

The Second Soul and the Ancestral Tablet. 
The story of the second soul is simpler but no less 


56 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


significant in interpretation. As said, it goes at death 
to reside in the ancestral tablet. This latter may be 
but a simple strip of paper or a plain bit of board one 
foot by four inches, with the appropriate characters. 
On the contrary, it may be carefully painted in black 
and gold, set in a small stand and have a miniature 
house with a glass door, built over it. It is set upon a 
special shelf, or great sideboard in the chief room of 
the house, and thus in the place of highest honour. 
The characters upon the back of the tablet, if there are 
any, simply state the name and dates of birth and 
departure of the deceased. Those upon the front are: 
“This is the official spirit throne of our deceased an- 
cestors, the perfect (because he had sons) father Wong 
of (we dare not utter his given name which was) 
Three Virtues, the venerable great man, and his 
helpmate (née Chang) our venerated and honoured 
mother.” 

Animating the Tablet. 

Care is taken in writing this for the first time 
that the upright stroke to the right in the char- 
acter for spirit and the dot over the character for 
lord are omitted. The writing of this stroke and 
supplying of the dot involve a vital ceremony. It is 
really the animating of the wooden tablet into a 
sort of sentient being, and requires the blood of the 
eldest son. 

For this important ceremony, some notable of the 
place, aS a B.A., an M.A., the district magistrate or 
some one still higher up, is invited. It is he who is to 
complete the letters. Moreover, it is he who appar- 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 57 


ently is inviting the departed, and so the greater the 
dignity of the individual, the more honour and “ face ” 
is given the departed soul, not only among the living 
but among the various rulers, companions and sojourn- 
ers in the land of shades. This is very important, for, 
as we shall later see, there is as much need of social 
standing, prestige and power in the shadow land as 
there is in this land of light. 

Transfusion of Spirit. 

Pending the arrival of the distinguished guest, a seat 
has been prepared for him much higher than the others. 
Indeed, it may be high upon a table where a chair has 
been arranged with suitable trappings. On his arrival, 
he is led with appropriate ceremony to this seat of 
honour, while the others, who are to act as his assis- 
tants, are seated upon either side. The chief mourner 
then approaches and, after due salutation, requests the 
great man to invite his father’s soul to enter the tablet. 
This the guest of honour proceeds to do in a loud voice, 
seconded by his assistants. His words are most flatter- 
ing. At the same time he holds his pen ready to make 
the vital strokes. ‘The chief mourner, who has been 
prostrate at the side of the table, then rises, and pre- 
sents the tip of his finger. The latter has been wrapped 
around with some thread or squeezed until the end is 
red, and then pricked by a needle so that a few drops 
of blood appear. This, usually the middle finger of the 
left hand, he presents to the master of ceremonies who 
dips the point of his pen in the living fluid and with 
ceremonial stroke supplies the missing parts of the 
characters. 


58 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


To describe it all is simple enough, but the effect 
upon the household is electric. A moment ago the 
tablet was but a simple piece of wood. Now the soul 
of the ancestor has entered and it is forever sacred, a 
thing to be revered and worshipped, regarded with awe 
and fear. No devotee of the Roman Church believes 
more thoroughly in the transformed character of the 
elements of the sacrament than does the family in the 
transformation of the tablet. Through the transmis- 
sion of blood, the ancestor has entered the inanimate 
thing and made it forever animate and sacred. Later 
on, it is reverently transferred to the top of the great 
sideboard at the upper end of the guest room. There 
it is made a guest of honour, or rather largely the ruler 
over the affairs of the household, is regularly included 
in meals and feasts, and resides in state, until possibly 
some later generation may transfer it to greater honour 
in the ancestral hall. 

A Source of Sorrow. 

The adventures of the third soul, its vicissitudes in 
the land of shades, and the costly efforts of its family 
to secure its release, we may well leave for another 
study. Sufficient has been said here to show how the 
mystery of the soul’s relations to its tenement of clay 
fills the thoughts of these millions with misinterpreta- 
tions, and their lives with terror or needless tribulation. 
Graves have become too often, not spots of hallowed 
memories and tender affections, but haunts of ghosts 
and ghouls whose grim whims and fickle fancies, as 
interpreted by some clairvoyant, are presumably back 
of all family misfortunes, and must be atoned for at 


PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 59 


any price. The seemingly harmless wooden tablet in 
the guest room is too often the final seat of authority 
in the homes and hearts of the nation, more to be feared 
than any other power of earth or heaven. Half- 
demented unfortunates also believing themselves pos- 
sessed by the souls of past heroes or genii, and followed 
and abetted by dupes and vagabonds, raise perennial 
riots with their bloodshed and distress. Even gentle 
mothers, who struggle unceasingly to save some little 
life while breath remains, when at last the body lies 
cold, will at times abandon it in scorn, believing it to 
have been the abode of some creditor, enemy or demon 
come purposely to bring the family sorrow, poverty and 
distress. Yes; the story of the soul with its supersti- 
tions and bitter sequels, is assuredly one of the secrets 
of China’s sorrows, 


Iil 
HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 


O understand the story of the third soul, it is 
necessary first to understand the Chinese con- 
ception of the hereafter. The ordinary idea is 

not difficult to grasp. ‘Indeed, it is very simple, for it 
is but a duplicate of their land of the living with a few 
significant exceptions. As some one has phrased it, 
the hereafter is just “China ploughed under.” It 
would probably be nearer the truth to say “ China 
clouded over,” for it is the same terrain but in deepest 
shadow. 

Its Terrain, 

Look again at a map of China proper—on the east 
and south bounded by the boundless oceans, on the 
north, mainly by the pathless desert, on the west, by 
the barrier of the massive Himalayas. This great area, 
in the east of Asia, has been divided into eighteen 
provinces. Each province has been subdivided into 
prefectures, each prefecture into districts or counties, 
and counties again into small, village districts almost 
corresponding to our townships, which, in turn, have 
even smaller partitions comparable to school-sections. 
Through these thread streams, rivers, roads and 
mountain-ranges, while scattered everywhere are cities, 
towns, villages and countless country homes. Over 


60 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 61 


all until recently—1911—ruled the Emperor, the Son 
of Heaven, assisted by his various Boards. The great 
provinces were governed by powerful viceroys, under 
whom were prefects, under whom, in turn, were county 
magistrates, and in ever-descending grades, village 
elders and small local headmen. 

The Land of Shades. 

Now, to the ordinary Chinese view, the here and the 
hereafter occupy the same site. The inhabitants of 
the latter are, however, in darkness, whereas we are in 
the light. Still they use the same roads and rivers as 
their highways, with olden time tollgates and guards of 
bridges. They are all around and about us. A com- 
mon saying declares that three feet above our heads 
there are spirits. They are even closer than that, for 
they dwell, day by day, in all sorts of shadowy 
places, such as wells, groves, dark rooms, graveyards 
and old houses, to come forth especially at night 
and assume control of the land occupied by the liv- 
ing. Thus the night is their day, the evening their 
morning, and, for consistency’s sake, midsummer 
marks their New Year. 

As to occupations, it may be said that, in the ordi- 
nary sense of the term, they do not seem to have any. 
They toil not neither do they spin; at least they do not 
seem to indulge in agriculture, trade and commerce. 
So for food and clothing (as we shall see later), they 
are wholly dependent upon the generosity of the land 
of the living. Still they have houses, tables, stools, etc. 
An interesting story tells of a maiden of ravishing 
beauty in the land of shadows, who enticing a mortal 


62 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


thither, hid him for a time under an old couch, just as 
tradition says they have done in our own lands of the 
living. The spirits include all grades of rich and poor, 
high and low, quite as here. The most unfortunate are 
those absolutely without friends and posterity, who 
have no one living to send them support and so are 
dependent on the promiscuous charity of strangers. 
Their lot is considered most pitiable. They are “ hun- 
gry ghosts,” rushing hither and thither, begging, fight- 
ing, fawning, struggling for existence. 

Government in Shade-land. 

These myriads of inhabitants in the land of shades 
do not wander as a great mob. The Chinese mind is 
too orderly for that. They have here again an almost 
exact copy of the organization of government found in 
the old Celestial Empire. As the proverb says, “‘ The 
lands of darkness and light have one and the same 
principle.” Over all is Heaven, or as that is too ab- 
stract for some minds, a more personal power is sub- 
stituted, namely, the Pearly Emperor. Under these 
again are the various boards, viceroys of provinces, 
prefects, county magistrates and smaller local officials. 
Each of these has had a temple built for him which 
may be still frequently seen here in the land of the 
living. The Pearly Emperor in reality has his court 
among the stars of the Great Dipper, or “northern 
bushel measure,” as the Chinese term it, and other 
officials of the land of shades may be represented by 
other star clusters. But here on earth these temples 
are placed so as to co-ordinate with living magistrates. 
Thus the Pearly Emperor’s temple is in Peking; that 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 63 


of the Viceroy of each province of the shadow land is 
naturally in each provincial capital; that of the prefect 
in each of China’s prefectures, etcetera. 

As in the land of the living, the official nearest to 
the people is the county magistrate, so also in the 
shadow world a corresponding official is most inti- 
mately concerned. Thus his temple is to be found in 
every county town. It is known as the “ city-god” 
temple or literally the “temple of the wall and 
moat,” as the god presumably rules within those 
boundaries. He has his prisons or “hells” as we 
shall see, his judgment seat where he sits constantly 
in state, as a great idol, and his lesser officials who 
do his bidding. 

He keeps a most accurate record of all the living and 
the dead in his locality. The birth of every one is 
presumably promptly registered in his books. The 
span of years the person is to live is also laid down, 
and from time to time any deeds of good or evil he 
may commit are carefully recorded, as these may in- 
crease or decrease his allotted time. His yamen run- 
ners are especially well known and dreaded. The chief 
one is called “The Uncertain,” possibly because no 
one knows where he is nor when he may come that 
way. With him go constables of hideous mien, cow 
heads, demon tails, etc., the one possibly most to be 
dreaded being that with hen feet. Thus; when a 
man’s days of life according to his destiny are ful- 
filled, this gruesome band issues forth from the city- 
god temple of the district to which he belongs and 
then no skill of man can save him. Willy-nilly, he 


64 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


must go with his grim guards to answer at the tribunal 
of his district god. 
Other Thoughts of the Hereafter. 

Such seems the conception, the primitive conception, 
at the back of Chinese thought of the future world. 
But during their long history other elements have also 
entered in, so that it is now decidedly more confused. 
These other elements have been largely contributed by 
Buddhism, abetted liberally by Taoism. Each has its 
separate ideas of heavens, while both commingle in 
conceptions and depictions of hells. We turn next, 
therefore, to some of these hopes and fears held forth 
to doers of good and evil. 

The Buddhist Western Heaven. 

The Buddhists tell of a place far to the west, ruled 
over by a Buddha known familiarly as “ O-mi-to Foh,” 
that is Amitabha, or, as he is frequently called, the 
Buddha of Boundless Age. This Western Heaven 
which he governs is thus described according to Dr. 
Edkins: “Ten million kingdoms of Buddhas separate 
O-mi-to Foh’s world from ours. It is composed of gold, 
silver, lapis-lazuli, coral, amber and cornelian. There 
is no Sumeru mountain, nor iron mountain girdle, nor 
are there any prisons for punishment. There is no 
fear of becoming a hungry ghost, nor an animal by 
transmigration, for such modes of life are unknown 
there. There are all kinds of beautiful flowers, which 
the inhabitants pluck to present as offerings to thou- 
sands and millions of Buddhas that reside in other 
parts of space. Birds of the most beautiful plumage 
sing night and day of the five principles of virtue, 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 65 


the five sources of moral power and the seven 
steps of knowledge. The listener is so affected by 
their music that he can think only of Buddha, the 
Law and the Priesthood.” Others assure us, in 
poetry, that,— 


“ There 1s no region so happy and blest 
As the heaven of Amida far in the west. 
On the moment of reaching it, by a new birth, 
The material body of man while on earth 
Is exchanged for another ethereal and bright, 
That is seen from afar to be flowing with light. 


“ Happy they who to that joyful region have gone. 
In numberless kaplas their time floweth on. 
Around are green woods and above are clear skies, 
The sun never scorches, cold winds never rise, 
Neither summer nor winter are there ever known, 
In the land of the Law and the Diamond throne. 


“ All errors corrected, all mysteries made clear, 
Their rest is unbroken by care or by fear. 
And the truth that before lay in darkness concealed 
Inke a gem without fracture or flaw 1s revealed.” 


The Taoist Heavens. 

The Taoist theories (which we will study later) 
differ considerably from that of the Buddhist. The 
former being a native sect, stick closer to the primitive 
Chinese conception and place their heavens in various 
regions of the Celestial empire. ‘Their immortal genii 
live in quiet caves far up the mountain sides, in se- 
questered valleys, in the wonderful realms of Mother 
Wong among the Kuen Len Mountains on the western 


66 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


border, or, better still, among the three wondrous isles 
said to lie to the northeast, in the Yellow Sea, the 
Islands of the Blessed. 

Various Hells. 

In striking contrast to all this, with its hopes of 
future happiness are what are familiarly known as the 
Buddhist or Taoist Hells. These may be seen in all 
their realism worked out in wood, paint and plaster in 
any temple to the city god, and also in “ Eastern Hell ” 
temples. Just where this hell is actually situated is 
confused. Some say each city god has one. Others 
state that it is really situated beneath the city of 
Fungtu here in Szechwan. As proof, a story is told of 
a magistrate who entered the opening pointed out as 
the entrance, wandered far into the awful caverns and 
was only saved by repeating snatches of the sacred 
books, a light gleaming forth to illumine his pathway 
at each repetition. (Our personal investigation of this 
dread gateway found only a small rock-hewn well, four 
feet square and thirty feet deep; but who can stem the 
tumultuous tide of tradition?) 

The Eastern Hell God. 

Probably the most consistent explanation of these 
places of punishment is, that they are in charge of the 
“‘ Eastern Hell” god, for he geverns all birth, or really 
all rebirth. That is, he controls not only the punish- 
ment, but the return to earth of all souls whose destiny 
it is to enter again this realm of existence. However, 
tradition is not noted for consistency in abstract specu- 
lation, so the common people find no difficulty in be- 
lieving many sides of these seemingly contradictory 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 67 


statements. The following extracts from a little book 
of the late Manchu dynasty, widely distributed by 
those who would do good deeds, has had great influence 
in at once summarizing and disseminating popular be- 
liefs. ‘The regulations are supposed to be direct re- 
scripts from the Pearly Emperor. These hells or 
“earth prisons,” as they are called, are divided into 
ten courts each with sixteen wards. Each court has its 
special judge, while over all is Yenlo, the old Hindoo 
Yama, ruler of the dead. 

The Punishments. 

In the Fifth Court, for instance, the sinners are hur- 
ried away by bullheaded, horse-faced demons to a 
famous terrace, where their physical punishments are 
aggravated by a view of their old homes. Thus Dr. 
Giles translates: | 

“This terrace is curved in front like a bow. It 
looks east, west, and south. It is eighty-one li 
(twenty-seven miles), from one extreme to the other. 
The back part is like the string of a bow. It is en- 
closed by a wall of sharp swords. It is four hundred 
and ninety feet high; its sides are knife blades; and 
the whole is in sixty-three stories. No good shade 
comes to this terrace; neither do those whose balance 
of good and evil is exact. , 

“Wicked souls alone behold their former homes 
close by, and see and hear what is going on. They 
hear old and young talking together. They see their 
last wishes disregarded, and their instructions dis- 
obeyed. Everything seems to be undergoing change. 
The property they scraped together with so much 


68 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


trouble is dissipated and gone. The husband thinks of 
taking another wife, the widow meditates second 
nuptials. Strangers are in possession of the old es- 
tates; there is nothing to divide among the children. 
Debts long since paid are brought again for settlement, 
and the survivors are called upon to recognize claims 
upon the departed. Debts owed are lost for want of 
evidence. ‘There are endless recriminations, abuse and 
general confusion, all of which fall upon the three 
families of the deceaséd. They in their anger speak 
ill of him that is gone. He sees his children become 
corrupt and his friends fall away. Some, perhaps for 
the sake of bygone times, may stroke the coffin and let 
fall a tear, then depart quickly with a cold smile. 
Worse than that, the wife sees her husband tortured in 
the yamen; the husband sees his wife victim to some 
horrid disease, lands gone, houses destroyed by fire or 
flood, and everything in utter confusion,—the reward 
of former sins.” 

The Sixth Court is a vast, noisy Gehenna, many 
leagues in extent, and around it are sixteen wards. 

“In the first the souls are made to kneel for long 
periods on iron shot. In the second they are placed up 
to their necks in filth. In the third they are pounded 
till the blood runs out. In the fourth their moutks are 
opened with iron pincers and filled full of needles. In 
the fifth they are bitten by rats. In the sixth they are 
enclosed in a net of thorns and nipped by locusts. In 
the seventh they are crushed to a jelly. In the eighth 
their skin is lacerated and they are beaten on the raw. 
In the ninth their mouths are filled with fire. In the 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 69 


tenth they are licked by flames. In the eleventh they 
are subjected to noisome smells. In the twelfth they 
are butted by oxen and trampled by horses. In the 
thirteenth their hearts are scratched. In the fourteenth 
their heads are rubbed till the skulls come off. In the 
fifteenth they are chopped in two at the waist. In 
the sixteenth their skin jis taken off and rolled up 
in spills.” . 
Transmigration. 

“The Tenth Court deals with the final stage of 
transmigration previous to rebirth in the world. It 
appears that in primeval ages men could remember 
their former lives on earth even after passing through 
these gehennas, and wicked persons often took advan- 
tage of such knowledge. To remedy this, a Terrace of 
Oblivion was built, and all shades are now sent thither, 
and are forced to drink a cup of forgetfulness before 
they can be born again. Whether they swallow much 
or little it does not matter; but sometimes there are 
perverse devils who altogether refuse to drink. Then 
beneath their feet sharp blades spring up and a copper 
tube is forced down their throats, by which means they 
are compelled to swallow some. . . . The wicked 
and foolish rejoice at the prospect of being born again 
as human beings, but the better shades weep and 
mourn that in life they did not lay up a store of 
virtuous acts, and thus pass away from the state of 
mortals forever.” 

The Six Paths. 

From here they return to life again, entering one of 

six paths into which all living beings can be born, 


70 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


namely gods, titans, men, animals of various grades, 
hungry ghosts and monsters. With a few of the 
more philosophical of the followers of Buddha, the 
prospect of entering into Nirvana, where all desires 
and illusions end forever in annihilation, may form 
the goal, but with the millions of this great land 
these three, namely, an indefinite sojourn in the land 
of shadows, with the hope of the Western Heaven 
to allure or the horrors of an excruciating hell to 
be shunned, form the stern realities ahead, after this 
mortal has taken another step in the great drama of 
transformation. 

The Third Soul’s Pilgrimage. 

Let us presume, then, that some mortal has reached 
the limit of life accorded him by destiny, that already 
the great Sheriff “ Uncertain ” and his motley runners 
have arrived, and the soul is about to answer the in- 
exorable summons. As we have followed the welfare 
of the soul which accompanies the body and the soul 
which enters the tablet, so also let us follow this third 
soul in its wanderings, and the efforts of his friends 
and family to save him from the purgatorial tortures of 
the earth prisons. 

Speeding the Soul. 

These ceremonies differ in different localities, but 
are in general as follows: As death approaches, one of 
the first acts of the watchers is to make a hole among 
the low roof tiles to allow the spirits to escape. The 
soul, as formerly explained, is regarded as a sort of air. 
Thus on one occasion, when a soul was imprisoned in a 
bottle, it was seen curling upward on the withdrawal 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 71 


of the cork, as a misty smoke or vapour. Lest, there- 
fore, the soul, on the occasion of death, be hindered in 
its flight, it is thought well to scatter the tiles. In some 
cases the Chinese even take a long bamboo pole and 
shoot it through the opening to make sure there are no 
obstructions either natural or supernatural in the way. 

Next a bowl of cold water is hastily poured. This 
is, ’tis said, to give the soul a parting drink, or more 
frequently to refresh the inexorable ‘‘ Uncertain ” and 
his assistants after their rapid journey. A lamp is 
also hurriedly lighted. This is to enable the departing 
one to see his new surroundings, especially these hid- 
eous, horse-headed, bull-bodied runners who have come 
to drag him away. Later, when he becomes accus- 
tomed to the land of shades, he will not need the light, 
but for these first few days it is very necessary and is 
kept constantly burning. 

Equipment. 

As the deceased is to go before the grim City God 
for justice, it is of great importance that he have 
friends, be properly clothed, and have a liberal supply 
of money, all of which lessons sad experience has 
taught abundantly true in the land of the living. 
Accordingly, bundles of cash-paper are burned to the 
gods who have governed the years of the deceased’s 
life. Other cash is similarly burned to appease small 
underlings, such as the keepers of bridges and toll gates 
along the route. His “ passport,” stating his time of 
birth, place of residence and other details necessary to 
his proper identification, must not be omitted, and, 
lastly, large bundles of paper cash, gold and silver, for 


72 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the use of the plaintiff himself, to be used discreetly 
as occasion may require, are added, for, though the 
justice of the lower regions is thought to be largely 
impartial, so far as the higher judges are concerned, 
the underlings are true to their reputation in the next 
world as in this. 

Candles and incense in worship to these rulers of 
the shadow world are also duly burned with many 
prostrations on the part of the elder son and other 
representative members of the family. Clothing is 
likewise an important item if the deceased is to make 
a good appearance. His body is dressed in the best the 
household can afford. As many of the garments are 
new, a small hole or some special sign is burned with 
incense in one corner, that the deceased may readily 
identify his own if stolen, as they may well be by 
orphan spirits. Paper clothing, paper servants, houses, 
books, boats, cash, and other requirements are also 
sent forward by means of fire. For is it not presum- 
able that souls whose own substance is a smoky va- 
pour, at least during transition, can use money and 
garments similarly transformed? | 
Priestly Precautions. 

It is also necessary to call a priest, either a Taoist 
or a Buddhist will do, the latter being slightly the more 
expensive. On arrival, he will inquire again all the 
details as to the time of birth and departure of the 
deceased, that he may thereby fix the date of a secret 
and much-feared visit of the noxious element spirits 
of the departed. According to this latter theory, the 
noxious elements are in many places supposed to sink 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 73 


into the earth to varying depths according to the one 
of the six roads which the spirit may have taken. The 
priest, who presumably knows all about these roads 
and the depths, can tell exactly the time when these 
dreadful influences will return. When the fatal day 
arrives, the family prepare for the exact hour with 
caution and fear, for many evil spirits will accompany 
this baneful part of the shade, and will cast evil effects 
upon any whom they meet. Accordingly, every nail 
is carefully searched out and covered with a red 
paper, lest the demons seek to hang the returning 
soul thereon. A table is also carefully spread with 
vegetables, rice and especially wine, for these, like 
their earthly equals, love to imbibe. In the centre 
of the table is placed another prime requisite—a 
crock with a small neck. In it are placed one or 
two hard-boiled eggs and by its side some chopsticks. 
it is naively believed that the half-drunken demons 
will spend their time seeking in vain to get the eggs 
out with the chopsticks and that meantime the re- 
turned soul will gain a respite, be able to look about 
the home and, seeing the, preparations being made for 
his future welfare, will return well pleased with his 
posterity. 

At the appointed hour of this unexpected visit the 
family hasten in dread to some neighbouring home. 
Not a soul is left behind, not even the hens, cats or 
dogs. At the expiration, all carefully return. Grown 
persons may fail to see any change in the appearance 
of the viands, but children can readily see traces of 
these much-feared visitors, especially on the floor. 


74 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


This latter, unknown to the demons, had been previ- 
ously strewn with ashes or sand, and now the keen eyes 
of childhood can trace out marks of chains, or of the 
hen feet of one of the intruders. Needless to say, the 
priest and his long line of forerunners have cunningly 
conjured up endless stories to explain and appease, but 
especially to extort a few more much-needed cash— 
this time not for use by the smoky spirits in the land 
of shades. 

On Trial. 

Word must also be sent to the judge of the lower 
regions in his court at the city-god temple. In some 
parts of China, friends proceed thither and scatter the 
floors with millet, rice, etc., to appease the underlings. 
Naturally a fee is also given to the priests who have 
influence with the keepers of the records in the other 
world. One or more is employed to intermittently toll 
a bell for possibly the whole forty-nine days during 
which a ceremony usually lasts. As stated, it is dark 
in the shadow land, but at each tolling of the bell light 
flashes through hades, much to the benefit and honour 
of the departed. As the latter is now supposed to be 
in process of trial or confined awaiting the same, sons 
and relatives go daily to the temple to burn incense, 
candles, and cash paper, and worship the god. On the 
last day, some even rub the posts of the temple lest 
revengeful runners may have stuck the soul of the 
deceased on nails, etc., or somewhere for future 
extortion. 

During these forty-nine days, nothing must be left 
undone to secure the release of the departed. In the 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 75 


land of the living, it has been found that the pleading 
of mothers, wives and daughters is also effective, for 
who can resist a woman’s tears? Accordingly, early in 
the process, the women of the household, and not in- 
frequently others hired to assist them, begin to pour 
forth most piteous wailings and beseechings, reciting 
at the same time the good deeds and noble qualities 
of the departed. Near relatives dress liberally in 
“sackcloth” if not in ashes, and literary friends 
write elaborate scrolls and essays extolling the dead, 
the essays, after reading, being burned for transmis- 
sion. Apparently in China, as in other parts of the 
world, “the wicked never die,” or if they die they 
never have funerals and tombstones or other elaborate 
eulogies. 

Weeping Wives. 

This weeping for the dead is evidently a very old 
custom in China. We read that the great Emperor 
Yao, who abdicated in 2255 B. c., nominated as his 
successor a young man named Shun, and gave him 
his two daughters in marriage. At the death of their 
husband, these two ladies are said to have wept so 
copiously their tears literally drenched the small bam- 
boos round about the grave. Hence, to this day, a 
certain species of that most wonderful of trees is called 
“the bamboo of Shun’s wives.” 

Priestly Aid. 

Of all the agencies employed to free the soul from 
its torments, however, those of the priests are pre- 
sumed to be most efficient. As in our own country we 
go to the lawyers when in legal difficulty, so in China 


76 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the priests are presumably the class of society whose 
duty it is to know the celestial codes. They know all 
about the forms of procedure, the ceremonies neces- 
sary, the wording to be employed and, especially, the 
fees necessary—to insure success. The poor usually 
employ the Taoist, the more wealthy the Buddhist or, 
if comparatively well-to-do, both. ‘Their ceremonies, 
which may last the forty-nine days, consist chiefly in 
dressing in elaborate court robes, beating gongs, bells 
and drums,—marching; bowing, kneeling and chanting 
selections from sutras, long ago handed down from 
India. Some of these are mere transliterations which 
the priests themselves rarely understand, while fewer 
still comprehend the doctrines often contained in these 
abstruse philosophies. As to the Taoist, they are but 
poor imitations of the Buddhist ceremony. 

Three Common Ceremonies. 

There are three ceremonies which even the poorest 
seek to observe. As they are common practically 
everywhere, we may give them in outline. They con- 
sist in inviting the soul to return to its home, freeing 
it from hades and feeding hungry ghosts. 

The First Ceremony: Inviting the Soul. 

As is frequently remarked in these pages, there are 
constant inconsistencies in many of these strange be- 
liefs. The soul, one might say, has already returned 
of its own accord. How, then, seeing that it is already 
in custody, can it come home? However, the idea 
seems to be that he is allowed to return for another 
look around or the priests have power to persuade the 
officials of the underworld, so can secure his return at 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 77 


an appropriate time. ‘The ceremony is thus described 
in The West China Missionary News: 

“Tf, according to the books, an auspicious day is 
near at hand for the commencement of the elaborate 
prayers for the dead, then the soul-summoning cere- 
mony is left for the same day, otherwise it is proceeded 
with at once. 

‘“‘ Dressed in special robes, the priest or priests ar- 
rive with cymbals and drums. Outside the main room, 
say, in the courtyard, at each of five spots represented 
in the five points, north, south, east, west and centre, 
is placed a dish of confectionery, another of bean curd, 
another of wine, together with the usual candles and 
incense. Besides these, two other things must be 
ready, namely, the Soul-leading streamer consisting of 
long strips of white paper, cloth or silk upon which 
appears written the name and place of birth of the 
deceased, with some felicitous phrase affixed, and also 
the Spirit Tablet, called the Wooden Lord, which is a 
small rectangular board about a foot high, an inch 
thick and three inches wide, with a base. On the tablet 
is engraved or written somewhat as follows, ‘ Recently 
deceased, illustrious father (surname and name given), 
venerable, great one’s spirit tablet.’ On the back ap- 
pears only the words, ‘ Complete Body,’ meaning that 
he is entirely present. 

“ The priest now grasps the wooden handle to which 
the streamer is attached and, waving it, proceeds to 
the five points mentioned, beginning with the east. 
The filial son follows closely, bearing in his two hands 
the tablet. As they arrive, cymbals and gongs are 


78 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


struck, the candles and incense are lighted and priests 
begin their incantations. Thus they sacrifice to the 
spirit of each of the five points, that these may assist 
in bringing back the soul of the deceased. At length 
the soul obeys the priest’s summons and returns, and, 
like any dustworn traveller, needs a bath. 

“Out in the courtyard a sheet of matting is set on 
edge, and the two ends are brought near together so 
as to form a small circular room and doorway. Within 
are placed a tub of water, a washcloth, combs, etc., 
also a bench. ‘Thither the procession moves and the 
son places the tablet on the bench. While the soul is 
presumably bathing the chanting goes on outside, and 
in addition paper clothes, hat, coat, shoes, all complete 
are burned so that there will be a full outfit for him 
to don.” 

Properly bathed, the soul presumably within the tab- 
let, is led step by step across a structure composed of 
benches, tables, etc., over which a web of cotton, called 
the golden bridge, has been stretched. By this means 
he enters his old home once more and is given a place 
of honour at the top of the room. Before him are 
spread out the usual foods, including wine for his re- 
freshment or, as the saying is, to open the spirit’s 
throat. He is now presumably free to look about his 
old home and note all that his family are doing for 
his release. 

The Second Ceremony: Releasing the Soul. 

The second night sees the clamour begin again. The 
soul of the departed is presumably now in the midst of 
purgatory, suffering the awful tortures which his un- 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 79 


balanced account of good and evil has brought him, 
and in dire need of aid. The priests alone can succour. 
The source of their power is thus explained: In the 
days of the Sung dynasty, that is, in the days when the 
Normans ruled England, there lived a maiden, the 
youngest of fourteen sisters. She was later happily 
wedded to a worthy man named Fuh, and in due time 
their home was brightened by the arrival of two little 
sons. Alas, she and her husband began to develop 
great covetousness. They craved to be. rich, and to 
this end used many means of cheating and oppressing 
their neighbours, as, for example, using a heavy steel- 
yard in buying and a small bushel measure in selling. 
For this the gods brought swift punishment, their two 
sons being one day suddenly struck by a thunderbolt. 
This flooded the mother’s heart with remorse and bit- 
terness. She became reckless and wanton to an ex- 
treme. Even the birth of another son could not check 
her mad carousals. At length, in utter abandon, she 
died, was tried by the judges of the land of shadows 
and condemned to the blackest and bitterest halls 
of hades. 

Now this third baby boy was unknown to her liter- 
ally a star. For the stars, as we have seen, are really 
superior souls of some past generation living amidst 
and lighting up the heavens. Are not scores of noted 
men of history known to be stars born among men? 
Such was this son. As he grew to manhood, he more 
and more realized the wickedness of the life his mother 
had led, realized it, yet pitied the remorse which had 
driven her to such recklessness, and the consequent 


80 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


sad fate she was suffering. He decided to become a 
Buddhist priest, if by any means he might rescue her. 
After years of reflection and purification, he deter- 
mined to seek the earth prison and, braving its dangers 
and horrors, to rescue her. 

Long he searched through all the ten courts and 
many score departments, but could find no trace. 
Demons on every hand sought to thwart him, but his 
purity could not be withstood. At last he realized that 
she whom he sought must be in the uttermost dungeons, 
those bitterest bournes of all from which no mortal 
e’er returns even for metempsychosis. Thence he de- 
scended, and after long and baffling search, discovered 
that she was confined within the Iron City. This is so 
named because its walls and gates are made of massive 
iron plates and bands, so that escape is impossible. 
There masses of demons guard the doors, rushing in 
new souls as they arrive, pushing them promiscuously 
through the small opening in the gates to the dungeons 
and horrors within. Before this gate the priest found 
himself. The guards sought by their utmost arts to 
prevent his approach, but his good overcame all their 
wickedness. Drawing near, he raised the iron staff 
he carried, and with one mighty thrust burst open the 
bars. Rushing in, he found his mother and led her 
forth. Ever since that day, the priests, by invoking 
his aid, may in like manner rescue other doomed 
souls. 

It is to dramatize this supposed event that many 
assemble the second night. During the day tiles or 
an old crock have been placed in each of the four cor- 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 81 


ners of the room. As on the previous night, candles 
are lit and much cash-paper and incens e burned. The 
appropriate gods are again worshipped and their aid 
secured. The priests appear with all their robes, 
authority, sacred sutras and musical instruments. One 
of their number is dressed to represent Mu Lien, the 
rescuer of his mother. Amid much clash of cymbals, 
clamour of gongs and chorus of voices, he slowly pro- 
ceeds from corner to corner of the house. At each 
point the wild clamour suddenly ceases for a moment, 
as with one awful thrust the priest drives forth and, 
—the tile or old pottery is in fragments. After 
hours of such ceremonies the last corner is visited, 
the last tile demolished, and in the small hours of the 
morning the gates of hades are declared duly stormed, 
the prisoner presumably rescued, the family free to 
retire and the priests ready for another savoury meal, 
and sleep. 
The Third Ceremony: Feeding the Hungry Ghosts. 
The last ceremony also deserves passing notice. It 
is that of feeding the hungry ghosts. During the day 
a procession of priests and mourners, having formerly 
visited the temple of the Pearly Emperor to secure the 
sacred water with which to give the shade its bath, 
again seeks audience with His All Highness, to an- 
nounce that all rites connected with the freeing of the 
soul of the departed have been fully performed. It 
only remains, therefore, to appease the souls of those 
persons who have died heirless, or whose posterity have 
failed to find them and who are therefore hungry 
ghosts in the land of shades. Indeed, if some notice 


82 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


of these is not taken they will, as the beggars and riff- 
raff so frequently do at weddings and funerals on the 
earth, make no end of trouble for the dead and through 
him for the living. 

Accordingly, upon the last night, the abbot or his 
representative seats himself high upon a table perched 
upon other tables, looking resplendent in all his regalia. 
The priests present sit and march by turns, chanting 
their books, kneeling, rising and beating their gongs. 
Meantime a crowd of idlers, well knowing the climax, 
crowd in and surround the place. After hours of wait- 
ing, which only a Chinese crowd could do so patiently, 
the abbot with many signs and special charms wrought 
by his fingers, flicks forth little balls of rice or dough. 
These are called “ ghost eggs,” and are intended to feed 
the hungry ghosts. Asa matter of fact, however, these 
starving spooks must be contented with getting but 
““a smell,” which of course they could only “ eat” 
anyhow. Hosts of hands outstretched from the 
crowd eagerly seize the real substance, as the little 
balls fly about, and carry them carefully home. 
Why? Do not such, fed to little children, ward off 
disease and visitations of disturbing devils, especially 
during dreams? 

Millions in Bondage. 

Such is the story of the third soul. It is another 
chapter to those subtle beliefs which have for centuries 
held this great people in bondage. ‘The picture of 
the Western Heaven or of the Islands of the Blessed 
on the one hand and of the hells with their excruciating 
horrors on the other, have had their influence, both for 


HEAVENS, HELLS AND THE HEREAFTER 83 


weal and woe, and in large measure still sway millions, 
especially the women of the land. Indeed, even the 
literati, while professing to treat all with contempt, 
usually invite in the priests as do others. 


IV 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 


liners from America to Asia, one soon discovers 

that the majority of the passengers are not the 
Caucasians who monopolize most of the first and 
second class accommodation, but rather the Chinese 
chiefly stowed away in the stern or steerage. Looking 
down from the main decks, they are seen swarming 
about by scores, or squatted here and there in small 
groups smoking, chatting, gambling. Later on one 
learns that their numbers are not confined to the living. 
There are also a score or more of dead, whose coffins 
are among the most valued elements of the ship’s 
cargo. Later still, if interested, one learns that these 
passengers, both living and dead, come from many 
parts of North America, from towns and cities as far 
east as a Nova Scotia village or crowded parts of the 
Bowery. It costs money to travel thus half round the 
world even at third-class rates, and freight and express 
charges greatly increase the expense. What can be 
the motive that impels these hard-working, saving sons 
of Han, many of them washermen and house servants, 
to spend so lavishly of their means, and what, espe- 
cially, can concern them to take a fellow-workman’s 
worn-out body over continent and ocean to some far- 


84 


C ROSSING the Pacific by many of the great ocean 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 85 


away, unnamed hillock among the multimillion graves 
of China? It must be an all compelling thought, in- 
deed, that thus calls men from all parts of the world to 
wend their way home ere death o’ertake them, and 
even stronger still, to constrain others to have these 
bodies borne so far. 

The Dead Dependent Upon the Living. 

The answer is simple enough. It is ancestor wor- 
ship. It is the seemingly harmless thought that the 
dead not only live but are dependent on their offspring 
on earth for all things. Such a simple proposition, 
however, is capable of unlimited corollaries, and the 
Chinese people, throughout their long centuries of his- 
tory, seem to have developed these to the utmost. We 
have already dealt briefly with some of these, in Chap- 
ters II and III, speaking especially of the customs that 
have gradually gathered about the treatment to be 
accorded to each of the three souls. The tablet we 
saw had to have its special ceremonies; the body 
its special clothing, costly coffin, and grave selected 
with minutest care; the soul which went to hades, its 
score and more of demands as it proceeded upon its 
perilous journey. 

Six Suppositions. 

These, and others which we should now state in 
more detail, are based on the beliefs: 

(1) That after death the soul still lives. 

(2) That these dead are dependent upon the living 
for all their needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, face, 
funds, honour, prosperity, protection, etc., which they 
enjoyed while upon earth, 


86 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


(3) That all these things can be transferred to them 
in some way, usually by burning paper imitations, but 
oftentimes by means many times more expensive and 
exacting. 

(4) That these dwellers in the shadow world can 
return good or evil to their posterity, and constantly 
do so, according to the treatment accorded them. 

(5) That the dead who are neglected by their de- 
scendants, together with those who are without pos- 
terity, are beggar spirits in the world of darkness, and 
are forced to eke out a wretched existence, herding 
together and competing with those who have died in 
war, at sea, of starvation, or in foreign lands, and who, 
in consequence of their burial places not being known, 
or having no relatives to sacrifice to them, are entirely 
dependent upon public charity, and 

(6) That many of the ills that flesh is heir to, such 
as sickness, business disaster, calamity and death, are 
inflicted by these unfortunate “ orphan ” spirits, who 
in attempting to avenge themselves, prey upon those 
in the world of light who are responsible in any way 
for their forlorn condition. 

But believe these corollaries, and what follows is 
the almost inevitable conclusion. 

The funeral and other services formerly described 
are therefore but the beginnings of a system of thought 
which goes far to hold many of these great millions all 
their lifetime in large measures of bondage. ‘Thus 
each morning on rising the eldest heir must worship 
the tablets, at each family meal bowls of food must 
be prepared and placed before the same with prostra- 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 87 


tions and an invitation to eat, quite as though the dead 
ate and were still present there. On the first and fif- 
teenth of each month special good things are expected 
and special ceremonies, including usually the visit of 
some one to the city-god temple to send funds to the 
souls in hades. 

Worship at the Grave. 

Worship at the grave is also exacting. It takes 
place at least twice a year. The principal time is in 
the spring, about one hundred and five days after the 
winter solstice. On any fine day during this season, 
which lasts two or three weeks, members of families, 
male and female, dressed in their best attire, repair to 
their family graves. There they make such repairs as 
the mounds may need. Many of the wealthy, indeed, 
specially buy a few acres of land and erect a house 
near their graves, renting all to a tenant at a mere 
nominal sum on condition that he properly protect 
their tombs. 

The preliminaries completed, the worshippers pro- 
ceed to make their annual offerings and perform their 
devotions to their ancestors. The master of ceremonies 
- in person, or some one in his presence, arranges the 
various offerings, consisting usually of a fowl and fish, 
and sometimes a pig, or more frequently still a pig’s 
head with its tail in its mouth as indicative of the whole 
hog. Wine, lighted candles and incense, miniature 
houses filled with paper money, paper trunks filled with 
paper clothing, a paper sedan chair, paper horses, 
servants, books and pens, boats, etc., etc., according to 
the supposed wishes of the deceased, are also supplied. 


88 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


All the paper material is arranged before the family 
graves with scrupulous care as to their order of dignity, 
then set on fire. The wine is poured on the flames, and 
as all is thus being transmuted and transmitted to the 
ancestors of the family, now sojourners in the land of 
shades, the master of ceremonies and all members of 
the family, including the little children, kneel, bowing 
their heads to the ground nine times in most formal 
reverence. 

The autumn ceremony is not so exacting, though 
many go forth to worship and provide winter clothing, 
funds and charcoal burners for the deceased. But the 
spring occasion can be omitted by none. The various 
guilds have their special servants who go to send gifts 
to members buried in some distant province. High 
officials may be excused the neglect of other pressing 
duties while these are performed. Even a highway 
robber will often seek to return home at this season to 
perform his filial duties. This care of the dead is a 
duty which none unfamiliar with the land can fully 
appreciate. 

Extortionate Exactions. 

Naturally priests and other sharpers are ever ready 
to make capital of such convictions. Here is an ex- 
tract from a report by way of illustration: 

‘Here, too, as in the funeral ceremonies, long gen- 
erations of the priesthood have not neglected their 
opportunities for gain. In their watchful(?) devotions 
before their deities, they have no difficulty in discov- 
ering that some one of their parishioners, who a short 
time ago was arrested and taken to the spirit world, 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 89 


and whose family is well-to-do in this life, is in 
wretched condition in the world of darkness. They 
manage to convey this information very delicately to 
the family so recently in distress. ‘The family are 
greatly alarmed. They thought they had done all in 
their power to settle the spirit of their departed rela- 
tive. They send for the priest, who goes into an in- 
vestigation and discovers that the unfortunate man is 
confined in a deep pit, guarded by sword and spear. 
With some emotion he informs the family that nothing 
short of a three-days’ mass will rescue the unhappy 
victim. The family anxiously inquire what amount of 
money will be required. The answer will naturally be 
guided by the known ability of the family to pay. In 
this instance we will suppose it is for one thousand 
dollars. The astonished family plead their inability to 
pay so much. The priest is not disposed to undertake 
it for less, and reminds them of the possible conse- 
quences should the unfortunate be left in his present 
condition. They hold a hasty consultation as to what 
they shall do, and offer five hundred dollars. The 
priest refuses. After much dickering he agrees to un- 
dertake it for seven hundred dollars, informing them 
at the same time that it will be very difficult to under- 
take it for that sum. 

“A day is appointed. The family hall is stripped 
of all its ordinary furniture, and decorated by the 
priests, in a gorgeous manner, with temple regalia, 
emblems of authority in the spirit world. The an- 
cestral tablet of the deceased is placed on a table 
in the centre of the hall, and surrounded by small 


90 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


idols and insignia of authority. Around this table 
the priests, five, seven or nine, attired in richly- 
embroidered imperial robes, and chanting their incan- 
tations, march in measured pace. The ceremony is 
continued day and night, enlivened at intervals by 
music and gong. 

“Meantime the priests and all the relatives and 
friends who have been invited to help, live upon the 
family. On the afternoon of the second day, the abbot 
or master of ceremonies, with some confusion and great 
emotion, informs the family that the position of the 
unfortunate is unchanged, and that the authorities of 
the spirit world will not think of releasing him for 
seven hundred dollars. The family and relatives be- 
stir themselves to borrow, if they cannot otherwise 
raise the additional sum. ‘The priests return to their 
task with renewed zeal. The chanting is more ener- 
getic, the step is much quicker and the ringing of the 
abbot’s bell is more frequent, while the family weep 
over their misfortune. In due time the abbot an- 
nounces that there is a commotion in the prison of the 
spirit world, and that the unfortunate spirit is about to 
be released. The news is proof that the additional 
three hundred dollars had the desired effect and is 
some consolation to the family for their unexpected 
outlay. On the third day the abbot makes another 
examination as to the actual conditions of the man. 
With great agitation he informs the family that the 
unfortunate victim is nearly out. He is, in fact, simply 
clinging to the mouth of the cave and is looking with 
anxious solicitude for further aid. But those in charge 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 91 


will not allow him to go unless they are further paid. 
What is to be done? 

“The family, frantic with anxiety, tear the bangles 
from their arms and the rings from their fingers, pro- 
duce other jewels and articles of value upon which 
money can be had at the pawnbroker’s, and thus pay 
another two hundred dollars. The priests, judging 
from appearances that they can get no more, return to 
their arduous undertaking with redoubled zeal, and 
ere the sun sets, the fearful din of gongs and fire- 
crackers announces to the anxious family that the 
incarcerated spirit has been set at liberty. Congratu- 
lations are exchanged, and the priests, having re- 
lieved the family of much anxiety and a large sum 
of money, depart. It is to be noted, however, that 
the relief is only temporary. The priests do not pro- 
fess to be able to rescue a person and place him in a 
condition of permanent peace. Who knows when 
another misfortune will befall him? Time and the 
priests will tell.” 

Other Requirements. 

Not every family, of course, is called upon to make 
so great sacrifice. But the number is legion of those 
who are called upon to move a grave, change the 
opening to a room, sell or buy a new site at a 
sacrifice, make a pilgrimage to some distant temple 
or mountain, or pay endless public and private sums 
for this fear of some presumably suffering ancestor. 
Not the least of these exactions are the processions 
to the gods and annual feasts to the hordes of 
hungry ghosts. 


92 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


These feasts are usually three in number, the first 
at the spring season of visiting the graves; the second, 
during the first fifteen days of the seventh moon, and 
the third on the first of the tenth moon. Of these the 
second is highly emphasized in most places. At this 
season according to popular belief all the hosts of 
hades, including those forlorn souls without descend- 
ants, are let loose for a season. It is, in fact, according 
to the calendar of the land of shadows, their holiday 
season, and woe to the mortal who does not entertain 
them well. 

Idol Processtons. 

Naturally the gods of the lower regions must be hon- 
oured at such times. As the city-god is especially able 
to guard the living and control the dead, he comes in 
for the lion’s share. In each temple dedicated to his 
residence will be found not only the great idol, eight 
or ten feet high, which sits on in dignified state, but 
also, just in front of him, a smaller duplicate of him- 
self. This latter is now carried forth and, with all the 
ceremony and dignity formerly accorded a living 
magistrate of equal rank, escorted through the streets. 
The sedan chairs are borne by at least eight coolies, 
preceded by the usual corps of criers, lictors, gongs, 
bearers of insignia of authority, mounted couriers, etc., 
and followed by advisers, writers, fan-carriers and 
mounted guard as required under the old régime for 
county magistrates. Coolies follow, bearing long 
bamboos on which are suspended contributions of 
cash-paper or silvered and gilded nuggets. 

The procession is followed by many penitents. 


. 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 93 


Among them are females, with hair dishevelled and 
chains about their necks, men also manacled and in 
chains—even small children are carried along, simi- 
larly in bonds. Some of these penitents follow the 
procession the entire day, carrying heavy weights sus- 
pended by hooks made fast in their flesh, or lighted 
candles and incense similarly inserted. Others go with 
cangues about their necks telling of their crimes. All 
these believe that they are suffering from offences 
against some ancestor of their own or of others, and 
are in this way doing penance with hope of relief. 
Such ceremonies are now frequently discouraged by 
the more enlightened republican leaders, but the 
thought system still abides and comes forth as of old 
whenever opportunity occurs. 

At such times, every family in the city is expected 
to contribute to meet the expenses of these festivals. 
During the succeeding nights, deputations from the 
temples of the city-gods or of the eastern peak, with 
gongs and a grand procession of lanterns and torch- 
lights traverse the streets, roads and alleys within the 
city and its environs, burning quantities of cash-paper 
at the street corners, by the river banks and in all 
places where these hungry ghosts might be imagined to 
collect. Others, wishing to get the direct benefit of 
their donations and fearing the dishonesty of the col- 
lectors, may prefer to conduct their own campaign and 
burn great quantities before their own doors. 

The Dread of Death. 

The foregoing should indicate, in some measure, the 

burden both to the affections and to finances which 


94 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


dead forefathers are to the living. A little reflection 
will enable one also to realize what a serious thing 
death is, as old age draws on and men and women 
begin to contemplate eternity before them. Even in 
our homeland is it not the anxious thought of each and 
all to lay by a few extra dollars as provision for old 
age? Who does not think of the possibility of being 
turned over to the charity of the poorhouse or the 
public with deepest revulsion of feeling? Add to this, 
then, if you will, the thought that you may be, as it 
were, a charity case, rambling with a rabble of hungry 
ghosts throughout all eternity, and a small idea of the 
power of this thought upon the aged and the reflective 
of China may be conceived. 

It is small wonder, then, that men and women make 
provision for their supposed wants in the land of 
shades long before the Sheriff comes with his grim 
runners. Expensive garments are secured, even actu- 
ally fitted on and worn, that comfort and fine appear- 
ance may be insured. Coffins for the father and 
mother not infrequently decorate either side of the 
guest-room. As these boxes of wood are to form their 
future and eternal homes, they are necessarily of the 
best material the family can afford. In our great 
Western province of Szechwan, in the Chienchang 
valley, in the extreme southwest, are found certain 
trees of massive size, buried, presumably, years ago, 
by landslides or otherwise. As the timber is large, 
well-preserved and of an artistic grain, the material is 
most highly prized for coffins. Many slabs are trans- 
ported far away to Pekin and other parts of the land. 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 95 


In Chengtu, some of the most expensive coffins cost 
two to three thousand dollars gold. Others sell at two 
or three hundred dollars, and the poorest pay ten or 
twelve. Even this latter is a large sum when you con- 
sider that in the interior the Chinese labourer receives 
approximately ten cents per day as wages and twenty- 
five to thirty dollars as his total earnings for a year. 
These coffins, in keeping with the thought of being 
future homes, are made of the thickest of slabs and 
heavily covered with black shellac, the lid and all parts 
being, as far as possible, airtight and waterproof. 

The grave, too, if possible, is located and prepared 
before death. Some of these tombs are most elaborate. 
Out upon the hills from the great cities are many, built 
of stone with several rooms, small hallways, and 
carved images guarding the entrance. The wealthy 
go still further, providing massive mounds with long 
lines of mythical animals placed in rows to guard the 
approach. 

Funds Sent Forward. 

Many also make provision for funds and even other 
houses and necessities in the usual way of transmission 
by fire before their death. This is true especially of 
those who are childless or who fear that their children 
may prove unfilial and not provide adequately when 
they are gone. Here, again, the priests are ready, for 
a small fee, to provide a means. Sometimes it takes 
the form of a full-fledged Chinese compound with the 
rooms, chairs, couches, boxes full of clothing, servants, 
horses and all necessary comforts and luxuries. 

At other times the priests announce that they are 


96 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


about to dispatch a boat to the spirit world. Then all 
who so desire come forward with bundles of cash-paper 
or imitation silver sycee and for a small fee have their » 
deposits placed aboard. The boat is often twenty-five 
or thirty feet long and wide in proportion. When it is 
full and piled up some ten or more feet, and no other 
depositors present themselves, the priests walk around 
the outside a few times chanting their incantations, 
then set fire to it at either end. In a few seconds the 
boat with its precious freight has disappeared. The 
parties who have transmitted goods are given certifi- 
cates of deposit and are warned to take proper care 
of the same. They will, at death, hand these over to 
some trusted friend with instructions to burn them, 
and will thus be able to collect the funds or the deed 
for the property in the shadow-land. 

The Imperative of Property. 

But to do all this requires money. If, then, this 
struggle for wealth is spoken of as the source of all 
evil in the West, much more is it so in the East, backed 
up, as it is, not alone with a need for its possession 
during the few, fleeting years of time, but for its per- 
petual use throughout eternity. For is it not a self- 
evident conclusion that should a family, either now or 
in the years to come, ever become impoverished, then 
its ancestors, who have gone on before must suffer? 
In ordinary practise it is said that only five gener- 
ations of the departed are so concerned. The earlier 
are presumed to have returned through metempsy- 
chosis, or to be in some mystic way beyond earth’s 
needs. But that this theoretical curtailing of responsi- 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 97 


bilities does not satisfy the inner consciousness, is seen 
in the storing up of tablets in ancestral halls, in the care 
of graves many centuries old, and in such prayers as 
the following by an Emperor of the Ming dynasty: 

“‘T thank you, my sovereign ancestors, whose glori- 
ous souls are in heaven. I, as a distant descendant, 
having received ‘the appointment from Heaven, look 
back and offer these bright sacrifices to you, the hon- 
oured ones from age to age, for hundreds of thousands 
and myriads of years. Now ye front us, O spirits, and 
now ye pass by us, ascending and descending, unre- 
stricted by conditions of space. Your souls are in 
heaven, your tablets are in that department. For 
myriads of years will your descendants think of you 
with filial thoughts unwearied.” 

Here, then, are long lines of ancestors to be provided 
for in the spirit world. Shall they be sustained or shall 
they starve? That will depend largely upon the 
amount of property that the family can gather to- 
gether from generation to generation. To understand 
this is to secure the key to many of China’s family and 
social struggles. Had they but knowledge of them, 
many millions would repeat Tennyson’s lines with es- 
pecial emphasis to their sons: 


“ Proputty, proputty’s wrything ’ere, an’, Sammy, 
I’m blest 
If it isn’t the sadme oop yonder, fur them as ’as 
it’s the best.” 


The Imperative of Posterity. 
Yet there is another factor that is even more im- 


98 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


perative than property. That is posterity. By pos- 
terity is meant sons, and sons of sons, for daughters 
do not equally reckon. To be efficient, the offerings to 
the dead should come through the eldest son, or at 
least a male member of the family. Daughters, on 
the contrary, marry, and thus become a part and the 
property of another family. ‘Their sons, in turn, and 
not their daughters, will supply them with the necessi- 
ties of the land of shades. Let us follow the effect of 
this new imperative, the need of posterity upon the 
nation, tracing in turn, in broad outline, its influence 
on sons, daughters, the family, society and other 
relations. 

Effect Upon the Man of the Nation. 

Needless to say there is great rejoicing when a son 
is born. In him are centred, not only the hopes of 
happiness here, but through him for the hereafter. 
He is accordingly fed, clad, cared for and petted to 
the best of the family ability. Everyone, especially the 
female portion of the household and his sisters, are his 
servants—almost his slaves. The result is/ that too 
often he grows up pampered, domineering, and one is 
led to agree in some measure, though not fully, with a 
report by Dr. Yates (from whom we have previously 
quoted other opinions), that, “The term filial [in 
China] is misleading, and we should guard against 
being deceived by it. The filial duties of a Chinese 
son are chiefly performed after the death of his par- 
ents. A son is said to be filial, if he is faithful in doing 
all that custom requires for his deceased ancestors.” 

There is one matter, however, upon which, until 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 99 


recently, a son’s opinions have had but little weight. 
It is the matter of his marriage. Mencius, one of the 
greatest sages of China, declared that there were three 
ways of being unfilial. The most unfilial of ‘all was to 
have no posterity. Consequently, the son frequently 
learns when he comes to years of discretion that he is 
already engaged. Indeed, the little girl he is to marry 
may have been already secured and living in his home. 
Accordingly, when he is still young, usually in his 
teens, he is married, and the responsibilities of a wife 
and family are thrust upon him. ‘These responsibili- 
ties are fortunately not so heavy as would be the case 
in a Western land, as his mother and father or grand- 
parents assume chief authority, and both he and his 
family are largely under their direction. Such things, 
however, necessarily interfere to a large extent with his 
studies, his apprenticeship, or whatever preparation for 
life he may be making. Possibly more unfortunate is 
the fact that these intimate relations are established 
at a time when both parties are immature. The normal 
allowance for difference of opinion is often not made, 
and frequent brawls are the result, unfortunate, alike, 
for the young parents and the children. As to who 
his wife shall be, the son has had nothing to say. 
There has been no courtship—no romance. The se- 
lection of one alike suitable in station, sympathy and 
ideals is all but unknown in China. The parents, with 
thoughts of property and posterity as the great im- 
peratives before them, have arranged all that. Some 
girl suitable to them in ability, appearance or price has 
been secured and the boy, willy-nilly, must abide by 


100 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the result. Fortunately, some such matches turn out 
happily; but, in many cases, they are most inappropri- 
ate. In still others it is a matter of complete indiffer- 
ence, the son simply viewing his wife as a necessary 
part of his property. If one wife dies, he soon secures 
another as he would any other necessary chattel. 
There are few phases of China’s old social structure 
against which her young men and women are more 
unitedly protesting today than this system of pre- 

arranged and early marriage. eh 

Being married, the youth is fortunate if his wife 
bear him a son—or several sons. But if he have none 
his is an unhappy lot. In this event, the husband is 
expected, if he can afford it, to take a second wife or 
concubine as soon as possible. A third or fourth may 
be similarly added if funds permit. All the children 
will be reckoned as legitimate heirs. 

If no male children are born, then the husband is 
driven to the adoption of sons. The child of a brother 
naturally comes first. If that cannot be secured, then 
the son of some other relative is chosen. Failing this, 
effort is made to secure a son—anywhere. Occasion- 
ally, a daughter may be married to a stranger, the 
husband assume the wife’s name and so become a 
son, but that is more rare. During these years of 
uncertainty, the husband is frequently rebuked by his 
parents, and is the butt for ridicule of the neighbour- 
hood. If driven finally to adopt some outsider, he is 
almost certain to secure a poor representative, for who 
has sons to dispose of in China? The adopted son will 
probably be some child of poverty or disgrace, a fact 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 101 


to be rehearsed again and again as the years pass by. 
A paragraph in a native newspaper just recently tells 
of one such son finally showing forth his low origin by 
rising in times of temptation to murder the parents 
who had adopted him. 

Effect Upon the Woman. 

The effect upon the woman is even more sinister 
than the effect upon the man. To begin with, she is 
not wanted by the family, with the same earnest en- 
thusiasm as a son. She cannot keep the family line 
of descent alive. Some day she will go to aid another 
family, but can be of no service to her own ancestors. 
Meantime it will cost much to raise her. So, especially 
if the parents are poor, the little life is in many cases 
silently stifled at birth. This is not that the Chinese 
people are devoid of natural affection. There are few 
lands where children are more fondled. It is rather 
that the family cannot afford to raise both sons and 
daughters, and when the choice is to be made, the 
demands of ancestors dominate all others. 

If a kindlier fortune allow her to live, then she has 
one goal ahead. It is to marry some day, profitably, 
into another family. She is taught to tend her young 
brothers, to sew, to embroider, to make shoes, to wash 
bowls and cook rice. It is necessary to make her earn 
her keep at as early a date as possible. In the past, 
her feet were bound. That was also an essential, for, 
until recently, only slaves and bad women had large 
feet. What home would take such a bride? The 
inauguration of Western education has given a great 
stimulus to the education of girls, but even now, out- 


102 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


side mission schools and large centres, girls’ schools 
are too little known. 

Some day—it may be, in her childhood, or in her 
teens—the parents of a girl have a visit from a middle- 
man or woman. A suitable match is arranged accord- 
ing to price or presents, the eight characters of the 
two concerned are exchanged and an engagement of 
the most binding character has been formed. As in 
the case of the boy, the girl has never seen her future 
husband, possibly knows nothing about the family to 
which he belongs, and has no say in her future. Her 
chief virtue at this age is to unfalteringly obey her 
parents’ behest. Her future husband may be young 
or old, rich or poor, healthy or diseased, a man or a 
moral leper. But if her parents or guardians are satis- 
fied, the girl is expected to submit. Is it any wonder 
that, at times, we read of young wives who commit 
suicide rather than endure the marriage bond? 

For the many, however, the marriage day arrives. 
The bride is bedecked with a profusion of powder and 
paint, and put through several traditional observances 
to bring good luck to herself and her parents’ house- 
hold, then placed in a great, red chair, the doors and 
windows all securely closed, and to the strains of 
music (seemingly alike to Western ears for funerals 
and weddings), she is borne away. Arrived at the 
strange home, her husband opens the door and she may 
see, through her veil, if she dare lift her eyes, for the 
first time, the one with whom she is expected to con- 
sort through time and eternity. Together they wor- 
ship heaven, and then—the very heart of the ceremony 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 103 


—bow together to the tablet of the husband’s an- 
cestors. Henceforth, save in exceptional relations, her 
family is hers no more. She has acknowledged herself 
a part of the great line of living and dead who go to 
make her husband’s household. 

In this new relationship, however, the newly-made 
wife is practically as much the servant of her mother- 
in-law as the wife of her husband. “A wife is taken 
to wait upon her mother-in-law,” cries a supposedly 
filial son in a certain story. Should the girl prove 
unwilling to do this the husband proceeds to beat her 
and finally sends her home to her own parents, which 
marks the extremity of disgrace. Duty to parents and 
to ancestors comes legitimately before that to husband 
or wife. ‘There is no “ Therefore shall a man leave 
father and mother and cleave unto his wife” in the 
sacred law of ancestor-worship in China. 

According to the law of the land there are seven 
just causes for putting away a wife. These are: 
(1) bad behaviour toward the husband’s father and 
mother, (2) adultery, (3) jealousy, (4) garrulity, 
(5) theft, (6) disease, (7) barrenness. As will be 
seen, the obligations to the husband’s parents come 
first, before all others. 

The young wife is fortunate indeed, if she bear her 
husband a son. Her status in the home and in society 
is at once secured. But if the years bring no such 
blessing, hers is a sad fate. She must submit to the 
jeers and taunts of all. She is the victim of the whims 
and suggestions of every old sorceress and fortune- 
teller in the neighbourhood, In time, she must submit 


104 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


to—in fact, is expected to assist her husband in secur- 
ing—another wife to take her place in this imperative 
of raising up sons to the forefathers. As life goes on, 
if she be a woman of strong will, she not infre- 
quently takes refuge in a temper which no one dare 
to molest. If of a weaker nature, then she is fre- 
quently the subject of endless taunts and sneers, a 
common drudge to the mother-in-law and servant 
to all, until natural death or suicide grant her grim 
release. 

Effect Upon the Family. 

In the West the word family means a man, his wife 
and their children. In China, the connotation is dif- 
ferent. It stands, rather, for several men, each with 
one or many wives, and their children, also their own 
fathers and mothers, and probably their grandparents. 
Indeed, the ideal family is that of five generations 
under one roof. Above all these, the dead generations 
represented by the tablets in the guest-room reign 
supreme. 

This thought even dominates the architecture of the 
home. It is a large rectangle with houses all around 
the walls within and a few built transversely as rungs 
in a ladder so as to divide the whole into two or more 
courts. Down by the gateway live the servants. In 
each ascending courtyard live the households arranged 
according to age or dignity. Highest up of all live 
the most aged and honoured, with the ancestors in 
their midst. 

This also dominates the home policy. Scatter as 
the sons may about the towns and villages of the coun- 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 105 


tryside, wander to other provinces or even at times 
abroad, still the home is largely the banking house for 
their funds. The hope is to increase the family estate 
and thus insure the perpetuity of the clan. 

Some of this has doubtless its benefit. It at least 
aids needy members in times of trouble, gives clan- 
urge to diligence and makes each an agent for his rela- 
tives when they are out of work. But it reaps also 
its rewards in individual jealousies, family wrangles, 
questionable hygienics and moralities arising from 
crowded conditions and absent husbands, and espe- 
cially in the domination of the aged and the ancestor 
over the middle-aged and youth, in the clan offspring. 
The ancestor is too often a semi-god, the aged grand- 
parent the law-giver, and the clan-circle the limit of 
the horizon, in human responsibilities. 

Effect Upon Society. 

The effect of this family fealty is also seen in so- 
ciety. Each clan is bent especially upon its own 
preservation and aggrandizement, and consequently 
cares little for its neighbours. Indeed, there are fre- 
quent deadly feuds between these. This spirit vents 
itself in times of peace in endless recriminations and 
lawsuits. In times of revolution and unrest, such as 
we have seen in recent years, these furies burst forth 
and the rival clan is sought out, persecuted, looted or 
even destroyed root and branch. It also enters into 
politics, where one clan by wealth or official position 
seeks to crush a rival, and to this end collects endless 
cliques and prostrates justice. 

Before the advent of Christianity, China had a few 


106 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


public charities, such as almshouses, homes for the 
blind and orphanages; but these were the fruits of in- 
dividuals anxious to lay up merit, or of Government 
necessity, rather than of a general thought of brother- 
hood. The sick fall by the wayside and usually, until 
their relatives hear of it, there has been no one to aid. 
One day a wounded man lay from dawn until mid-day 
in the street. He was but wounded in the knee and 
could have been saved, but when, at last, our Red 
Cross found him it was too late. He had bled to death. 
Some of this indifference is doubtless due to fear of 
devils and other complications, but much is the 
fruits of every clan for itself, its ancestors and pos- 
terity. “‘ Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes, if he be 
really my blood brother, my kith and kin, but if he 
belong to another clan then, largely, the word is an 
euphemism. 

Effect Upon the Nation. 

In this respect, far-spreading effects are also seen. 
Until recent years, there was little real patriotism. 
The nearest approach to it was a feeling for the prop- 
erty and tombs of ancestors. A poster, for example, 
purposing to rouse the people to revolt, represents the 
authorities selling graves to foreigners. Men of other 
provinces are often looked upon as aliens. Even during 
the present struggle, Northern troops have been hissed 
out of the capital of the Western province and bitterly 
hated, although to an outsider their conduct appeared 
exemplary enough. Indeed, men of another country 
and village are often similarly rejected. 

This whole thought system abets speculation. A 


ANCESTOR WORSHIP 107 


man may hold quite an honourable attitude to his own 
clan, but placed in public position ‘“ squeezes” un- 
blushingly. What matter, so long as his own family 
gain in property and prosperity? From another stand- 
point, it perverts justice, judges being unwilling to 
punish a man who is an only son, or, at times, even to 
act as judge in cases of criminal dealings, lest they 
incur the vengeance of some dead powers of darkness 
by punishing their progeny. 

International Effects. 

Internationally, too, this thought has its fruits. The 
imperative for sons has so overpopulated the country 
that people must migrate. But, on the other hand, the 
system demands that they remain citizens of their own 
land, true to their own ancestors, sending all surplus 
funds home, and returning to be buried there and so 
supplied with the next world’s necessities by their own 
clan. The result is, that no nation is anxious to receive 
them. They not only decrease wages to native work- 
men but unless Christianized, give little support to 
schools, churches, libraries, or public charities, as 
true citizens should. The result is that abroad, the 
Chinese are, possibly, the least welcome of settlers, 
although they are acknowledged to be capable, intel- 
ligent, industrious and patient. Not all of this is due 
to any one cause, but ancestor-worship is assuredly 
one of the chief sources from which it may be said 
to rise. 

Indeed, should some reader feel called upon to dis- 
count the findings of this whole discussion it will still 
have to be conceded that the dead hand of the ancestor 


108 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


has a big, and in the main, a baneful influence upon 
his peace-loving posterity. ‘This is the more impor- 
tant, for from many angles it is correct to say that 
ancestor-worship is the real religion of the Chinese 


people. 


V 
PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 


N our earlier studies we have sought to follow the 
Chinese mind in its simplest readings of the mean- 
ing of life, and to see some of the consequences 

as they appear today. They are the periods usually 
called Naturalism, Animism, and Ancestor Worship, 
common to many other nations, if indeed not in some 
measure to the whole human race. The disaster is 
that the masses in China have been so long in dis- 
carding these phases of thought, and are therefore 
still bound by their limitations. But China’s scholars 
have had ample time for deeper reflection and have 
evolved systems of philosophy and ethics quite as 
surely as have other portions of the human race. 
Let us follow some of these profounder quests for 
reality. 

The Primary Elements. 

One of the earliest questions reflective men appar- 
ently ask is as to the stuff or substance out of which 
all things are made. Men see about them the animal, 
vegetable and mineral worlds, and as all seem to be 
inextricably bound together, they get inquisitive as to 
their composition, the material from which all come. 
Our own Western philosophy, which started with the 
Greeks or others on the west coast of Asia, had these 


109 


110 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


same questions. One said all was derived from water, 
another said all was from fire, and a third that all 
came from air. It is quite probable that the early 
Greeks received their impulse from farther east, 
namely, from the older civilization of Babylon. If so, 
it is not impossible that the Chinese may have had 
some similar source for their inspiration. At any rate, 
their answer was not widely different. They concluded 
there were five elements from which all things were 
derived. These five were water, fire, metal, wood and 
earth. The effect of this theory upon the Chinese 
thought and life will be better understood if left for a 
later study, being much affected by the speculations 
outlined below. 

Primary Principles. 

Speculation, it will be seen, did not end there. 
From some other native or foreign source came the 
observation that many of the phenomena of life are 
apparently found in pairs. Thus we have day and 
night, heat and cold, black and white, light and 
heavy, old and young, big and little, and others ad 
infinitum. 

Secondly, these not only go in pairs, but seem to 
follow and mutually aid one another, or thirdly to be 
antagonistic, one the opposite of and destroying the 
other. 

The Yin and Vang. 

This apparently led Chinese thinkers to explain the 
generation of all things as the interaction of two prin- 
ciples, a sort of active and passive or a positive and a 
negative. For these they used two words which we 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 111 


will need to learn at once. The active principle they 
called “‘ Yang,” the passive, ‘‘ Yin.””’ Under the Yang, 
or active, they naturally grouped all such phenomena 
as light, heat, the sun, the heavens, the masculine, the 
strong, the positive. Under the Yin they classed the 
opposites, as darkness, the moon, cold, the earth, 
the feminine, the weak, the negative. 

Evolution and Revolution. 

Watching again, especially perhaps, the processes of 
growth and decay, the coming and going of day and 
night, and the procession of the seasons, these early 
thinkers also discovered that phenomena apparently 
both evolve and revolve. Thus, in life, youth is fol- 
lowed by fullness of manhood, then old age and death, 
only to be followed by the birth and death of another 
generation. The sun rises in the mornings, to grow 
great at noon, then diminish, until midnight we have 
the climax of darkness, later to be followed by an- 
other march toward the dawn. Spring is followed by 
the heat of midsummer, to pass on again to autumn 
and midwinter with its cold, but this again is fol- 
lowed by another spring. ‘Thus they concluded that 
all things go in great cycles, processes that revolve 
and evolve. 

They explained this by saying that the Yang and 
the Yin alternate. For example, midnight or midwin- 
ter is the climax of the Yin, while midday or midsum- 
mer marks the triumph of the Yang. Between these 
extremes are, of course, all grades and degrees of 
commingling. 

So it was in the explanation of the growth and decay 


112 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


of animals, men and indeed all things in the universe, 
for do not all grow and decay? Even the five elements 
of which we have spoken were derived, it was thought, 
from these two active and passive principles, so that 
there was an active and a passive fire, and similarly of 
water, metal, wood and earth. All things were but the 
evolving and revolving, combining and disintegrating 
of the Yin and the Yang. 

The Great Extreme, and the Unlimited. 

As to the next natural question, namely, the source 
of these two, they concluded that originally the two 
were one. This one they spoke of as the “‘ Great Ex- 
treme.” It was a sort of chaos in which the Yin and 
the Yang were commingled in comparatively equal 
parts. It was the primitive world stuff, the great egg 
from which the universe has been hatched. There 
most of their thinkers seemed to have stopped; but 
others, pushing the question still further back, said the 
Great Extreme came in turn from ‘ That-which-had- 
no-extreme,’”’ an Unlimited. By this, they were prob- 
ably again following out their idea of the world going 
on as all things do in great cycles, that is first a chaos, 
then a cosmos, then a chaos again, to evolve into a 
cosmos, and so on evolving and revolving eternally, the 
beginning and end, both limitless. 

Monism Depicted. 

In attempting to picture these principles to them- 
selves the early philosophers looked upon the Yang as 
being white and the Yin as black, and expressed this 
by circles of these colours, thus Yin @, and Yang O. 
Later they or their successors applied this to showing 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 113 


how the two unlimited things commingled equally in 
the one Great Limited or Great Extreme and pictured 
it thus: 





Tur Great EXTREME, 


Thus the outer circle shows that the two are really 
and originally one. The colouring suggests that the 
two principles are equally balanced, while the small 
alternating spots of black in the white and the white in 
the black, suggest that they commingle and change. 
Let us now turn, therefore, to this process of change, 
to the evolution of the universe from the Yin and the 
Yang. This has been to their thought, just a long, 
complex, yet harmonious process, a sort of permuta- 
tions and combinations, and so may be expressed 
mathematically. 

An Algebraical Progression. 

The Yin and the Yang, we must remember, start 
with even quantities. Next these are doubled or alge- 
braically squared. Then they are raised to the third 
power, then fourth, fifth, etc., of themselves, and so 
on ad infinitum, or until the cosmos comes to a climax 
and gradually becomes again chaos. Thus we can 
express this algebraically as follows, putting “a” for 
Yang and “b” for Yin: (a+b), (a+b), (a+b)?, 
fat) 3Cac boo (a--b)° (a-72D) eGarab ya ete. etc, 


114 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


The Chinese also used this method, only instead of 
our convenient old friends, “‘a” and “b” or “x” and 
“‘y,” they used another simple device. They repre- 
sented the Yang or the active principle as a straight, 
strong, unbroken line, and the Yin, the weaker passive 
principle, as a line of equal length but divided, thus, 
Yang , and Yin ——. Similarly, we would write 
(a+b)? equals (a?++ab-++ba+-b?). The Chinese wrote 
it quite ingeniously thus: ——— 
omitting any signs of plus and calling them, not Yang’, 

YangYin, YinYang, Yin*, but The Great Yang, The 

Lesser Yin, The Lesser Yang and The Great Yin, 

according to the quantity and position of the two 

principles. 

The Source of All Phenomena. 

All that seems simple enough. We must remember, 
however, that to the Chinese mind this was not merely 
a mathematical problem. The process was actually 
producing a world and might be recognized amid vari- 
ous and widely diversified phenomena. These active- 
passive, or positive-negative principles could be traced 
(how, they do not tell us, but evidently by their active 
and passive, heat and cold, male and female and such 
like appearance) into specific physical, astronomical, 
psychological, physiological, ethical and even political 
phenomena. Thus: (Compare Meyer’s Chinese Read- 
ers’ Manual) 

1. The Great Yang is seen as the sun, heat, the 
mental disposition of people, the eyes, that 
which is first or greatest, and that which is 
Imperial, 




















PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 115 


2. = The Lesser Yin is seen as the planets, night, 
the bodily frame, the mouth, successive gen- 
erations, usurping or belligerent rulers. 

. —— The Lesser Yang is seen as the stars, daylight, 
the outward form, the nose, revolving motion, 
a rightful Prince. 

4,—— The Great Yin is seen as the moon, cold, the 
passions, the ears, that which unites, the Di- 
vine Sovereign. 

Such interpretations seem somewhat vague and com- 
plicated and they naturally become more involved as 
the process advances. Let us try another, the next 
stage. This we might express as (a+b)? is equal to 
(writing the full sum) a?+-a*b++aba+-ab?+-ba?+-bab+ 
b?a+b*. This in Chinese Symbols reads: (where —— 
is “a” and —— is “b”) 











If we number these descending from the active to the 
passive at zero we have: (where the Yang or long line 
is 1, 2, or 4 according as it is upper, middle or bottom 
line, and the Yin or broken lines are always 0) 

7. 6. BY. 4, 3. Zhe Pom OS 
Further Expansion. 

This further gradual commingling of the two prin- 
ciples as they evolve, must, according to the theory, 
manifest itself in lavish phenomena. Thus: (Again 
compare Meyers) 


0. is called the earth, exemplifies compliance or docil- 
ity, also seen in the ox. 


116 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


1. is named mountain, denotes arrest, standstill, re- 
vealed in the dog. 

2. is water, the moon, clouds, rain, or streams, ex- 
emplifies sinking down, danger, the pig. 

3. is the wind, is penetrating, and among animals is 
the bird. 

4. is thunder has energy, mobility, and is seen in the 
dragon. 

5. is fire, the sun, or lightning, shows brightness, and 
is seen as the pheasant. 

6. is a lake, or water collected in a basin, is pleasant, 
satisfactory, the goat. 

7. is the heaven, the sky, shows strength and is seen as 
the horse. 


Ancient Charts. 
These philosophers, moreover, wished to exemplify 


that the world in its growth not only evolved but re- 
volved, and that all was due, not alone to a procession 
of the principles, but also to their interaction. With 
these thoughts in mind the permutations were arranged 
as follows: 


walls alll Sa a ee sai 3 


eX ty * NX % HY, 
e f Notth bc Mie 
ep 


Tue TricRAMS. 
According to Fuh Hsi (left) and King Wen (right). 
(Cf. Carus’ Chinese Philosophy.) 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 117 


The figure to the left is the older, and therefore con- 
sidered the more orthodox. It will be noted (1) That 
the top is south. This is contrary to our Western cus- 
tom which always presumes in charts that we are 
facing the north, and makes it the top. These an- 
cients, however, made the Great Dipper, or, as they 
called it, the “‘ Northern Bushel,” the throne of the 
world, and so drew their charts on the presumption 
that we face south. Note next (2) that the Yin and 
the Yang symbols exactly balance. That denotes 
the constant harmony that prevails in the evolving- 
revolving world. Note also in passing (3) that if the 
opposite roman numerals are added the sum is always 
seven. 

This latter requires a word of explanation. The 
Yin symbol (—-—) is always zero in value. The 
Yang symbol ( ) varies in value with its position. 
Just as explained we face south in viewing a chart, so 
in counting we should begin at the top. Thus the 
Yang in the highest row is equal to “ one,” in the sec- 
ond row “ two,” in the third row “ four,” etc. The in- 
dividual diagrams, therefore, really equal the numbers 
we have affixed. So also each plus its opposite equals 
“seven,” possibly another reason some Eastern na- 
tions consider that the perfect number. ‘The second 
chart is simply another theory or arrangement, so 
need not be explained. 





The Two Principles Progress to Highest Degrees. 

The next step in the permutations would be, as 
stated, to raise the two principles to the fourth power, 
which would give us sixteen symbols, each made of 


118 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


combinations of four strokes of the Yang and Yin, 
beginning this: ===, etc. This would be followed 
by another series raising them to the fifth power, then 
to the sixth, and so on, as we say, to the nth or 
infinity. Indeed, some have, it is said, labouriously 
carried it out to the twenty-fourth power, when there 
would be 16,777,216 diagrams with combinations and 
complications which would entitle it to be, what it 
really is, the prince of Chinese puzzles. 

The orthodox have, however, been satisfied with 
raising these two mysterious principles of Yin and 
Yang to the sixth power. This gives sixty-four dia- 
grams. They may be written as a square block, 
representing, it is said, earth, or as a circle repre- 
senting heaven. ‘The following diagram combines 
the two: 











s3Bstseon 
AB EEFFASSSS 
XS ” = WD 
Gor" “SS 
a “ ~ 
Yt Is, 
VA "by . Ys 
L) 
iy ees «= oe wy ® 
ii PRHEBBRER “Wy 
5232 2252 FEZ 
Sigg 22 FSS Stes Se = Wht, 
elf SS SS BE Sz FEZE TSH ws 
Git S$HiSi res ES ‘eld 
mall $2 32 Se S352 SS wat 
$3 33 S$ = 32> = 
tye BRR EAR AS itt 
sitttt eee Se sleet 
ss & = Ssrzesze = SS ¢ 
quail Se S252 52 S222 55 22 pee! 
anil iH HS 2S pu 
“ik Ss S25 Se SR sets 2s za Halle 
ws #3 22 SS FIRSTS SSE My 
EN SBS eee eS iM 
$s Pere BBS SS fille 
WA. 233225222 ~/ 
PN Sb 
SS IG 
Lye, 
i SS — s Be ae 
“SSF SS S222 Pa ea 


ad 
weelteotses-s 


THE Srxty-Four DIAGRAMS. 
(See Carus’ Chinese Philosophy.) 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 119 


Here again the opposite diagrams, called ‘‘ Kwa,” 
balance perfectly, a Yin on the one side being always 
met by a Yang on the other. This shows, as said, the 
harmony prevailing at all stages in the development of 
the world. The two opposites in this case, if added, 
always equal sixty-three, that is, the six Yin, being all 
zeros, equal nothing, while the six Yang equal 1, 2, 4, 
8, 16, 32. This perfect balance no doubt served these 
philosophers as a proof that they had the diagrams 
properly arranged, and an undoubted key to the con- 
struction of the universe. 

All this is comparatively simple. It is when they 
attempt to interpret these diagrams, that all becomes 
a sort of confusion worse confounded. Yet this is just 
what is attempted. Moreover, they have not been 
content to give interpretations to each of the sixty-four 
figures alone, but have affixed interpretations to each 
line of each figure, which in turn must be interpreted 
in the light of the whole and of many other circum- 
stances. To understand this it will be necessary to 
turn for a time to trace the reputed history of the 
mystic Kwa or figures. 

Origin in the Dragon Horse. 

In no nation more than China has antiquity given 
authority, and this has been ascribed to the utmost in 
the case of the theories we have been discussing. They 
take us for their origin far back into mythical ages. 
Thus, in the dim dawn of Chinese tradition, about 
2852 B. C., lived the first Emperor, Fuh Hsi. He was, 
it is said, successor to the divine beings who reigned 
during countless ages before human society was es- 


120 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


tablished. He was the offspring of a miraculous con- 
ception by the inspiration of heaven. Born at Si Ngan, 
the capital of modern Shensi, he made his capital at 
Kaifung-fu in Honan. There he taught the people 
written language, hunting, fishing, cattle-raising, ar- 
ranged the calendar, ordained marriages, organized 
clans, introduced family names, and invented stringed 
instruments. To assist him in all this, especially in 
his system of government, a ‘“‘ Dragon-Horse” rose 
from the waters of the Yellow River right at Fuh Hsi’s 
feet, bearing upon its back a certain mystic chart. 
This is called the (Yellow) “‘ River Plan” and is said 
to have been the original of the diagrams we have been 
describing. 

The Turtle Writings. 

Almost six centuries later (B. c. 2205), lived an- 
other celebrated Emperor named Yt. His father 
had been employed by the great Emperor Shun to 
drain the land of vast stretches of water. The 
father failed, but Yiu gave his whole heart to the 
work. So intent was he that he thrice passed his 
own door without turning in, though his wife and 
son called from within. He it was, tradition says, 
who drained the great province of Szechwan by cut- 
ting a passage through the now famous Wu Shan 
gorges. During these labours there appeared one 
day from the river Loh a tortoise bearing upon its 
body mysterious diagrams, an addition to those of 
the Dragon Horse. The interpretation enabled him 
then and during his later years as Emperor, to plan 
all things political and moral in keeping with the mind 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 121 


of Heaven and so bring peace and prosperity to the 
people. This second system has been called the ‘“‘ Loh 
(River) Writings.” 

Later Diagrams of These. 

What these two famous figures were, the history of 
the times did not reveal. It was not, some say, until 
the days of the Sung dynasty, a thousand years after 
the Christian era, that the philosophers of the day at- 
tempted to draw the diagrams. They represented 
them as follows: 





(Right) The Loh Writing and (Left) the River Plan. 
(See Carus’ Chinese Philosophy.) 


The story of the Dragon Horse and the Spirit 
Turtle may have marked the appearance of some 
unusual animals or are possibly additions of a later 
day, to give a divine sanction and settle all debate 
as to their truth. Chinese literature seems to show 
such fancies were of a later age. As to the dia- 
grams themselves, they apparently go back to a 
very early time, and were probably at first simply 
a form of writing the figures and counting. Though 
there can be no proof that they were in the form 


122 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


pictured above, they seem to have existed in some 
form as early as the days of the Emperor Yii of 
whom we have spoken, and his predecessors, the 
famous Emperors Yao and Shun (Bp. c. 2356- 
2205). Beyond that most Chinese history is 
mythical. 

Attempted Solutions. 

Be the origin of these figures when and what it may, 
they are certainly full of interest. They are appar- 
ently, in later history, an attempt to harmonize three 
things: (1) The two principles of Yin and Yang, the 
passive and active, rest and motion, as seen every- 
where in nature; (2) The supposed five elements— 
water, fire, metal, wood, earth; (3) The endless 
evolving-revolving process of nature as seen in the 
systems of seeming permutations and combinations 
explained above, with number and harmony at the 
heart of things. 

Thus the black circles are Yin and the white circles 
Yang. The five in the centre are the five elements, 
or, more strictly speaking, the five movements or 
“forms.” So, though they in theory contain both 
motion and rest, inasmuch as they are chiefly active 
as seen in nature, they are represented as Yang. From 
these all things flow. All is in perfect harmony, as 
seen by the adding of opposites in the case of the Loh 
Writing, or subtracting the Yin and the Yang in the 
case of the River Map. 

Interesting as they may be to us, or not, these dia- 
grams have certainly fascinated, and that with fatal- 
istic firmness, Chinese speculation, and become the 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS = 123 


basis in the main of their material, moral and political 
thought. 
Expansions by Emperor Wen. 

Nearly eleven hundred years after the time of the 
Emperor Yi, these strange diagrams are again brought 
prominently into history. About 1200 B. c., a noble 
named Wen was thrown into prison by the tyrant 
Chow. The former, doubtless with ample time for 
reflection and every reason to be interested in his 
future, began the study of the two plans and the eight 
diagrams, cf. (a+b)*, said to have come from Fuh Hsi 
and the great Yii. From these he not only read his 
own good fortune (for his son was later to overthrow 
the tyrant) but also expanded the eight to the sixty- 
four diagrams, cf. (a+b)°, which we have studied 
above. Most important of all, he gave to each of the 
sixty-four an explanation, the basis of later education, 
speculation and divination. 

Duke Chow’s Supplements. 

Naturally, the descendants of this King Wen laid 
great emphasis upon these forms, so one of his sons, 
Duke Chow, supplemented his father’s interpretations 
by writing explanations to each line of the sixty-four 
diagrams, that is 6 times 64, or 384 expansions. 
Things were naturally becoming more complicated, 
but had highest authority and were later to form the 
basis of the far famous Book of Changes. 

The Book of Changes. 

Several hundred years later came Confucius (551 
B. C.). Finding the times out of joint, he took to 
study and decided firmly in his own mind that the 


124 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


salvation of the country lay in restoring the rites of 
the past. Here, then, were figures of highest au- 
thority and hoary antiquity. The two forms and 
the sixty-four diagrams with their permutations, 
combinations and comments in this way became a 
canonized book, one might almost say a Bible. Con- 
fucius gave it great reverence. He believed that 
“the (Yellow) river gave the plan and the Loh 
(river) the writing,” though he says nothing about 
a Dragon Horse or a Spirit Turtle. He further la- 
ments to his disciples that in his day, “ the phoenix 
does not come, the river sends forth no map.” In- 
deed, he declared in his old age, after a lifelong study 
of the mysterious forms and their meanings, “‘ If some 
years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the 
study of the Book of Changes, and then I might come 
to be without faults.” 

Confucian Comments. 

To this book as it then existed, Conrdetis added his 
own elaborate comments. The title Yi, which as above 
is usually translated ‘“ Change,” might also be trans- 
lated “‘ Permutations,” for, as we have seen, it is the 
permutations and combinations of the Yin and the 
Yang through the five elements that is the heart of 
the system. As the centuries passed and the teach- 
ings of Confucius became for China almost what 
those of Christ are to Christendom, the place and 
power the Book of Changes naturally assumed were 
of supreme importance. You buy it today on the 
street in ten Chinese volumes of about two hundred 
pages each, 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 125 


Occidental Interpretations. 

The character of this abortive Book has been 
somewhat summarized by a writer quoted by Carus 
thus: 

“* What, then, is this famous Book of Changes? It 
is briefly this. From the continuous or bisected char- 
acter of the diagrams (that is the Yin-Yang figures) 
their position at the bottom, in the middle or topmost, 
their mutual relation as opposed and separated, or 
coming together, or, from the body or form of the 
trigrams themselves, and further from the symbol or 
image of the trigrams, from the quality or virtue of 
the trigrams, sometimes from the difference of one 
hexagram as compared to another, a certain picture is 
developed, and a certain idea is deduced containing 
something like an oracle, that can be consulted by 
drawing lots, in order to obtain some warning fit for 
guidance in life or to solve some doubt. Such is the 
book according to the explanation of Confucius as 
handed down in the schools. . . . Since this book, 
as a reader of the original text will understand, has 
been employed for fortune-telling, one expects to gain 
by it the highest happiness of life, mysterious com- 
munication with spirits and occult knowledge of future 
events.” 

Devices for Divination. 

The place these strange volumes have occupied as 
an oracle for affairs great and small has much signifi- 
cance. As accessories to the Book of Changes for 
divining purposes, the ancients used a tortoise shell 
and stalks of milfoil. Fifty stalks were first chosen. 


126 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


From these one was taken and placed in a holder in 
the centre of the table to be a symbol of the Great 
Extreme. In the spirit of supplication and with the 
whole attention fixed upon the thing to be divined, the 
remaining forty-nine were raised with both hands over 
the forehead. Here they were divided wholly by 
chance by the right hand, and that portion laid aside, 
save one selected and held between the little and ring 
finger of the left hand. The stalks of the left hand 
were now to be counted by eights. If, including the 
stalk held by the little finger, only one remained over, 
then the trigram indicated was (——), if two (——), 
if three (——), if four (= =), if five (——), 1 six 
(=—), if seven (==), and if eight (= —). The 
process was then again repeated and gave another 
trigram which, being placed above the first, gave the 
hexagram, that is, some one of the sixty-four. It still 
remained to discover which particular line contained 
your destiny. This was done by again repeating the 
process as before, save that this time you divide by 
six. If the remainder was one, then your request was 
answered by the first line, counting from below, if two, 
then the second line, etc., for each of the six lines. 
(Cf. Carus.) : 

The hexagram and the particular line must now be 
sought out in the Book of Changes. Your question 
carefully considered in the light (or darkness) of the 
explanations and commentaries on the single line, of 
the hexagram as a whole, and of the half score more 
contingencies as explained in the extract quoted 
above, will edify (or mystify) you as to your inquiry 














PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 127 


and leave you wise (or otherwise) as to your life’s 
destiny. 
Modern Methods. 

The ancients also thought it necessary that you 
“wash your hands and mouth, clean your body, sit 
perfectly aright in a quiet room, and take hold of the 
sticks very reverently.” Nowadays much of this 
seems unnecessary. You simply take three common 
cash in your hands, close them one over the other, in 
lieu of a tortoise shell, shake the cash and throw them 
out upon the table or ground. You note the way they 
fall, and then write lines one above the other; heads 
are Yang, tails Yin. This repeated will give the upper 
trigram for the hexagram. As to the particular line, 
you simply select any one you please. Then the Book 
is called in to act as oracle as of yore. The explana- 
tion will differ, of course, according to the ingenuity 
and imagination of your instructor. 

The literati have been especially wedded to this 
form of divination. They have naturally readily ac- 
cepted Confucius’ estimate of its value. One of our 
teachers, who is now a Christian, claims he came to us 
through its results. His home is four days to the east 
of Chengtu. Being out of employment, a friend per- 
suaded him to have his destiny revealed by the Book 
of Changes. The friend interpreted the line and the 
hexagram to mean that he was to “ go west and south, 
not east or north.” Despite this, he, having an offer 
of employment from the east, set out in that direction. 
On the road he met an old classmate who was bound 
for Chengtu, the capital, The latter immediately set 


128 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


to work to persuade him to obey the oracle and come 
west. This he did and a few days later was recom- 
mended to us as a teacher. Naturally such experi- 
ences create great credence. If the result is good, it 
is a steadfast proof of the prescience and oracular 
power of the classic. If it fails why, of course, it was 
simply a wrong interpretation, or instructions were not 
implicitly obeyed. 

Other Systems. 

This is, moreover, the source of many other simpler 
systems. One of the most common is that seen daily 
in the temples. There the suppliant kneels to the idol, 
and has a bamboo tube containing many sticks or 
“lots,” each of which is numbered, before him. He 
shakes the tube until one drops out. Then the priest 
throws a couple of short cone-shaped blocks, oval on 
one side and flat on the other, upon the temple floor. 
If both fall with the flat sides up that is a Yang sign. 
If both oval sides are up that is a Yin sign. As 
neither of these are lucky, the suppliant must each 
time shake again for a new number. Sooner or later 
the priest throws the blocks (called Kwa or diagrams, 
as in the Book of Changes) with one flat side facing 
up and the other down. ‘That is the lucky sign, for 
the Yin and the Yang are properly harmonized. He 
now takes his lot, bows again to the idol, and goes off 
to another part of the temple where there are numbers 
of small drawers full of written fortunes. A printed 
fortune corresponding to his lot is given him, and after 
the payment of a few more cash he goes his way to 
unravel the riddle of his existence as best he may. 


PHILOSOPHICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS 129 


Thus has the philosophy of the ancients fallen into 
decrepitude, divination and delusion. The Yin and 
the Yang, as we shall see later, have become the 
warp and woof of much of China’s civilization, and 
stagnation. 

Tied by Tradition. 

This is not saying that China has had no great 
thinkers—far from it. She has had splendid sons, 
who have sought again and again to solve the prob- 
lems of life. Alas, they could apparently never quite 
free themselves from the fetters thus imposed by their 
forefathers. The seeming certainty that all originated 
in one, that the two principles and five elements suf- 
ficiently comprehended all, especially that subtle se- 
duction of mathematics including odds and evens and 
other manipulations of semi-algebraic symbols seem 
to have woven a web from which there was little 
escape. Add to this, that soon after the days of 
Confucius, all was looked upon as holy, to doubt a 
single line heresy, and we will well understand how 
thorough were the bonds which have bound the thought 
of the nation. 

Chu-fu-tze (1130-1200 a. p.) made a noble attempt 
and in much of his writings, according to Professor 
Bruce’s interpretation, seems to have worked out a 
really idealistic basis of being and becoming. Un- 
fortunately, however, for him and others of like sym- 
pathies, he has been slain in the house of his friends, 
namely, his professed followers who could only inter- 
pret him in terms of the traditions. The Yin and the 
Yang as active and passive with their monism in the 


130 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Great Extreme were concepts worthy of real conquests 
in civilization. ‘They have been vanquished by the 
subtleties of mathematics and materialism ending in 
much divination and delusion. 


VI 
PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY, AND FUNG-SHUI 


F the principles of Yin and Yang may be spoken 
of as Chinese metaphysics, then the theory of the 
five elements may be considered their physics and 

chemistry. These have, however, as we shall see 
more fully, ramifications into physiologoy, phrenology, 
psycho-physics, astronomy, astrology, ethics, politics, 
etc., which have evidently rendered it bewitching to 
the mystic and equally bewildering to true progress. 
To trace more fully the story of the five elements is the 
purpose of this study. 

The Five Elements or “ Forms.” 

All things we have already seen, are, according to 
Chinese thought, composed of the five elements, water, 
fire, metal, wood and earth. The origin of this theory 
we have also seen dates far back to the dawn of 
Chinese history and may have been original. It may, 
on the contrary, have come to them through the 
Hindoos, who have a largely similar theory, or it 
may have come through other channels, from the 
ancient civilizations about the valley of the Eu- 
phrates, from whence similar theories probably found 
their way to the Asiatic Greeks and so to Europe. 
Such a hoary age has at any rate given the thought 
all the awe and authority of antiquity, and also ample 


131 


182 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


opportunity to weave itself into the web of Chinese 
civilization. 
Active and Passive Principles. 

These five elements are apparently the visible, 
tangible forms of those invisible, intangible forces, the 
Yang and the Yin, those active and passive, or positive 
and negative principles and powers which we have 
been discussing. ‘Thus the five elements each contain 
both the Yin and the Yang. So we have a Yin-water 
and a Yang-water, a Yin-fire and a Yang-fire, a Yin- 
metal and a Yang-metal, a Yin-wood and a Yang- 
wood, a Yin-earth and a Yang-earth, that is, an 
active and a passive of each. As, however, these 
five elements are mostly manifest as activities, they 
are, aS we have seen, spoken of as the five “ forms,” 
or “movements.” The Chinese character which we 
translate as “ element ” being formed from the tracks 
of the right and left foot in walking. They are 
perhaps the active and passive “ goings-on” in the 
phenomenal world. 

Mutually Creative and Destructive. 

There exists among these forms a very important 
relationship which we have now to note. It is that the 
five elements are mutually constructive and destruc- 
tive. As the Chinese characters say, they mutually 
“‘ give birth to ” or “ create ” and mutually “ destroy ” 
one another. Thus water destroys fire, fire destroys 
metals, metals destroy (divide or cut) wood, and wood 
destroys earth. This is readily shown in a chart by 
placing the mutually destructive elements opposite 
each other, where they naturally counteract each the 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 133 


influence of the other and so produce balance of power. 
The same chart properly interpreted also shows their 
mutual ability to construct or nourish. Thus, metal 
when heated produces (liquid like) water, water nour- 
ishes wood, wood nourishes fire, and fire produces 
ashes or earth. 

Relative Positions Depicted. 

Now, the heat or fire of the world comes evidently 
from the south, which is the place where the fire is 
hottest. Therefore it would seem right to locate that 
element in the south, and naturally its opposite, water, 
in the north. In a similar way the springtime brings 
verdure as the sun rises more and more to the east, so 
the element wood is located there and its opposite, 
namely, metal, in the west. Earth is, of course, in the 
centre. These three considerations, therefore, namely, 
mutual construction and destruction and their location 
according to the points of the compass give the fol- 
lowing diagram: 

South 
Hire (X) 


Centre 


a tr (A) “Barth ( £) eter (#) 


th 
ser ter (KK) 


Resulting Groups of Fives in Phenomena. 

Accordingly the five elements, though everywhere 
commingled, have their proper place, relations, and 
powers. From them come forth the phenomena we 


184 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


see, and the Chinese, reasoning with a mathematical 
logic, have arranged many in endless groups of fives. 
Thus we have the five chief minerals: gold, silver, cop- 
per, lead and iron; the five grains: pulse, millet, hemp, 
corn and rice; the five kinds of fruits: peach, plum, 
apricot, chestnut and jujube; the five sacrificial beasts: 
the ox, goat, pig, the dog and the fowl; the five 
guardian mountains; the five lakes; the five super- 
natural creatures; tlie five virtues: benevolence, up- 
rightness, propriety, knowledge and faith; the five 
blessings: longevity, riches, peacefulness, love of 
virtue, an end crowning life; the five degrees of 
mourning for parents, for grandparents, for brothers, 
for uncles, for distant relatives; the five forms of pun- 
ishment (under Chow and Han dynasties): branding 
on the forehead, cutting off the nose, cutting off ears, 
hands or feet, castration and death. These and many 
others have more or less fanciful derivation from the 
five elements. This will be more readily understood 
as we seek the application in others more obvious. 
This leads us to inquire more minutely as to the na- 
tures, colours, etc., of these five elements. 

The Nature of Each Element. 

The nature of each is definitely stated. It is told 
us in one of the oldest of China’s classics, the Book of 
History. In a section of the book called the Great 
Plan, are nine divisions for the guidance of the govern- 
ment of the nation. (The ancient plan of divination 
recorded in a previous study forms the seventh di- 
vision.) The first division treats of the five elements, 
as follows: 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 135 


“ The nature of water is to soak and descend; of 
fire, to blaze and ascend; of wood, to be crooked or 
straight; of metal, to yield and change; of earth, to 
receive seeds and yield harvests.” 

From this description of their respective natures, it 
proceeds to define the taste of each: “ That which 

soaks and descends becomes salty; that which blazes 
and ascends, becomes bitter; that which is now crooked 
and now straight, becomes sour; that which yields and 
changes, becomes acrid; and from seed-sgwing and 
harvesting comes sweetness.” 

The Formation of the Five Colours. 

The derivation of the five sounds is still less ob- 
vious. The formation of the five colours is, however, 
quite simple. The fire is, of course, red, and its oppo- 
site, water, is dark green. Wood is green-black and its 
opposite, metal, is white. Earth is yellow. (These 
five colours, it may be noted in passing, form the na- 
tional republican flag of China today.) Seen in the 
clouds they have quite another significance. Black, 
the water colour, naturally betokens floods, red fore- 
tells warfare, and white, mourning, for the Chinese 
wear white, not black, at funerals. Green is ominous 
of plagues of creeping things, and yellow is the herald 
of violent winds. 

A pplication to Physiology. 

The relation of much of the above to life may seem 
rather remote. It becomes more intimate when the 
same theory is used to account for physiology, and 
prescribe medicine for various diseases. Thus the five 
chief organs of the body are the kidneys, the heart, 


186 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the lungs, the liver, and the spleen. Next by some 
strange factoring of colours, positions, tastes and pow- 
ers, the kidneys are said to belong to the water ele- 
ment, the heart to fire, the lungs to metal, the liver to 
wood, and the spleen to earth. When the elements in 
these are all in perfect harmony there is health. 
When, however, any one or more becomes greatly in- 
creased or diminished in proportion to the rest, it is 
of course obvious that there must be a lack of bal- 
ance, a state of civil war and disease or death to the 
patient. 

Deductions as to Disease. 

The first duty of the physician is, naturally, to 
locate the seat of the disaster, to see which one of the 
warring elements is too strong or too weak. This is 
readily done by feeling the pulse. That is not, how- 
ever, the same process as with the Western doctor. 
The latter, watch in hand, counts the beats to discover 
the action of the heart. The Chinese physician feels 
the pulse of both the right and left wrists, and on each 
wrist distinguishes six main and several subordinate 
signs. Omitting the latter, the pulse is divided into, 
“inch,” ‘‘ barrier ”’ and “ foot,’ according as the pulse 
just below the bone of the thumb, the pulse crossing 
the wrist-bone, or the pulse below the wrist-bone is 
felt. Such a procedure gives to each wrist, three kinds. 
These next become twelve by distinguishing different 
varieties according as the pressure of the physician’s 
finger is light or firm in each case. 

Diagnosis. 
As to the information obtained by this process, the 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 137 


following table from Williams’ Middle Kingdom gives 
the clue: 


Left Wrist 
Inch, lightly pressed, indicates the state of the small 
intestines. 
Inch, heavily pressed, indicates the state of the heart. 
Barrier, lightly pressed, indicates the state of the gall- 
bladder. 
Barrier, heavily pressed, indicates the state of the liver. 
Foot, lightly pressed, indicates the state of the bladder. 
Foot, heavily pressed, indicates the state of the kidneys. 


Right Wrist 

Inch, lightly pressed, indicates the state of the large in- 
testines. 

Inch, heavily pressed, indicates the state of the lungs. 

Barrier, lightly pressed, indicates the state of the 
stomach. 

Barrier, heavily pressed, indicates the state of the spleen. 

Foot, lightly pressed, indicates three supposed passages 
of the diaphragm. 

Foot, heavily pressed, indicates gate of life (purely 
imaginary). 


Prescriptions. 

The organs and their surroundings properly diag- 
nosed, the next thing is to prescribe for the patient. 
This will vary according as it is some weak organ to 
be strengthened, or some strong one to be repressed. 
Thus, if the heart is affected, there is either too much 
or too little heat. If too much, then some medicine 
containing the water element is necessary, for water, 
we saw, limits fire. If there is too little, then the 


188 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


proper medicine must be one containing the wood ele- 
ment, as wood nourishes fire. A similar line of simple 
reasoning supplies other needs. 

The Principle Applied to Pharmacy. 

It must not be concluded that the medicine will be 
limited simply to water, fire, metal, wood and earth, as 
such. It is rather these elements as contained in 
things. The Chinese medical pharmacopceia comprises, 
according to one investigator, three hundred and four- 
teen vegetable, fifty mineral, and seventy-eight animal 
substances. The latter include snake skins, fossil- 
bones, silkworm and human secretions, moths, tiger’s 
teeth, deer’s horns, etc. An educated Chinese phy- 
sician assures me he can distinguish the element in 
these in four ways, namely, by their colour, taste, 
shape, and smell. These bring us back again to 
the five colours, tastes, etc. ‘Thus white, be it ani- 
mal, vegetable, or mineral, denotes metal, red shows 
fire, yellow is earth, and so on. Similarly the salty 
taste, we saw, signified water; bitter, fire; and sour, 
wood. Shapes and smells give similar keys to the 
substance, which must be prescribed to save the 
patient. 

Relation to the Five Senses. 

The same solvent enters into an explanation of the 
senses with strange results. These are again con- 
trolled, it is believed, by the five elements. They are 
the five senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and, not 
as we would say the sense of feeling, but that of 
thought. The corresponding organs are the nose, 
mouth, eyes, ears and heart, which again accommodate 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 139 


themselves to the five elements, water, wood, metal, 
fire and earth. 

Harmony must also obtain among these senses. For 
the nose, the essential is a “reverent” attitude, for 
the mouth propriety in speech, for the eyes clearness 
of vision, for the ears distinction in hearing, and for 
the heart or mind acumen in thinking. These atti- 
tudes, if followed, give the five graces of gravity, 
decorum, circumspection, discernment and wisdom. 
Then by some strange leap from worthy ways to 
weather which we of the Western world find it hard to 
follow, we read in the Great Plan of the Book of His- 
tory: “‘ Gravity in deportment causes rain, propriety 
sunshine, prudence heat, circumspection cold, and 
wisdom wind.” An explanation of this strange inter- 
mingling of manners, morals and material forces may 
be somewhat clearer after we make a study of the 
famous doctrines of Fung-Shui. So we next turn to 
these further factors. 

Fung-Shut. 

The words “ fung” and “shui” mean Wind and 
Water, and are chiefly applicable to the supposed effect 
of these elements on the grave and ghost of the dead. 
But the roots of the system lie deeper, and are to be 
found in theories of astronomy, astrology, animism 
and geomancy. 

The Prototype of Earth Phenomena in the Heavens. 

Possibly as an introduction to their thought we 
should again recall that all things come from Yin 
and Yang. Now the Yang is the Heaven and Lord, 
while the Earth is Yin and as it were receptive 


140 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


lady. All things born of the Yin and Yang par- 
take of the natures of both, but as the Yang is the 
stronger, more active, most things upon the earth 
are but a reflection or an offspring, so to speak, of 
the heavens. Thus, if we wish to find the origin of 
either animal, vegetable, mineral or man, we must 
first look to the heavens where we will find its 
prototype. 

The Ten Heavenly Stems. 

Now, there are in the heavens five prominent, ever- 
changing stars, which we Westerners call the planets. 
These were readily identified in China with the familiar 
five elements. Mercury was the Water-star, Mars the 
Fire-star, Venus the Metal-star, Jupiter the Wood- 
star, and Saturn the Earth-star. These were further 
looked upon as the pure essences of these elements 
or forces. Upon the earth they were seen as ten, 
for we must remember that each element has a Yin 
and Yang. Thus the Yin-water was identified as a 
brook and the Yang-water as great waves; Yin-fire 
was a lamp flame and Yang-fire was burning wood; 
Yin-metal was a kettle and Yang-metal military 
weapons; Yin-wood was the bamboo and Yang-wood 
the fir tree; Yin-earth was the plain and Yang-earth 
the hills. These ten, that is, the five elements each 
with its Yin and Yang divisions are known as the 
“heavenly stems ” and form the first factor we must 
note in Fung-Shui. 

The Twelve Earthly Branches. 

The next factor again comes from the skies. There 

it was noted, as other nations have done, that the 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 141 


stars may be grouped into clusters, and that these 
clusters resemble our animals. These, then, are 
again the prototypes and are represented upon the 
earth by the following: the rat, ox, tiger, hare, 
dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, dog, cock, pig. 
These twelve clusters, which are really the zodiacal 
signs, are spoken of as the “earth branches,” and 
form the twelve periods into which each day is di- 
vided. These make a second factor in the theories of 
Fung-Shui. 

Good and Evil Star Influences. 

Another factor that must be considered is a special 
group of nine stars about the north pole. These in- 
clude the seven we call the dipper and two others in 
the vicinity. Each has again relation to the five ele- 
ments and is seen upon earth as some special form of 
mountain, hill or plain. The first is called the “ Cov- 
etous Wolf,” has wood as its prevailing element, and 
is represented by conical hills, with a mushroom- 
shaped outline. The second is called the ‘“ Great 
Door,” belongs also to wood as its chief element and 
is represented by square-shaped hills. The third star 
is “ Rank Preserved.” It belongs to the earth element 
and manifests its influence in flat-topped, drum-shaped 
foothills. The fourth star is “ Literary Windings,” and 
belongs to water. It loves the shape of the snake seen 
moving with three or four coils to its body. The fifth 
star is ‘‘ Purity and Uprightness.” Its element is fire. 
It likes a lofty position, rugged heights and umbrella 
folds. The sixth is ‘ Military Windings,” and its ele- 
ment is metal, Its hills are round at the top and broad 


142 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


at the base, like a bell or inverted saucepan. The 
seventh is ‘‘ Breaker of the Phalanx,” and belongs to 
metal. The normal shape is that of three round- 
headed cones but it has also four peculiar shapes. 
The eighth star is ‘‘ Left Assistant,” and is under the 
influence of metal. Its normal shape is that of a 
head with a cloth wrapped around it, high in front, 
low behind. The ninth is “ Right Assistant.” Its 
element is water. It loves flatness, especially where 
the hills break off and become plain. If asked why 
this special group of nine stars is thus singled out, 
the reply is that they form the residence of the 
ruler of the stars. Hence in keeping with this view- 
point, as formerly indicated, all maps face the south; 
so do all temples and official yamens. These nine 
stars, then, with their influences displayed among 
the mountains and hills, form a third factor in 
Fung-Shui. 

Twenty-eight Constellations Control. 

The twenty-eight constellations or apparent tem- 
porary residences of the sun and moon as they cross 
the heaven, come next. These are usually divided into 
four sevens, according to the four points of the com- 
pass. These four points are again related to the ele- 
ments which, as we have seen, belong there with their 
colours, that is, green wood to the east, white metal to 
the west, black water to the north, and red fire to the 
south. From these by a fanciful interpretation they 
come to speak of the “‘ Green Dragon ” to the east, or 
left side as you face south; the ‘‘ White Tiger ” to the 
west or right side; the “Sombre Warrior” to the 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 143 


north and the ‘“‘ Vermilion Bird ” to the south. These 
four fanciful figures form a fourth factor affecting 
man upon earth. 

Other Factors Affecting Life and Destiny. 

Other factors are literally the ‘‘ Wind and Water ” 
and the Dragon. The first two, as explained, have 
given the system its name. They are more readily 
grasped by the popular fancy and as they come into 
special prominence at the time of the selection of 
graves, have forced themselves more upon the atten- 
tion of the populace. Many other factors have been 
insinuated into the system by ingenious charlatans in 
search of gain, but these seven factors are their chief 
stock in store. They are certainly sufficient. To these 
the birth, marriage, business life and death of each of 
China’s millions are vitally related and all must be 
interpreted in relation to these forces. Let us follow 
somewhat the applications. 

Every man is then presumably subject to all these 
factors and their influences. They are looked upon 
as his Constructor and so his Controller. Some- 
times they are simply spoken of as though they 
were forces. More frequently they are looked upon, 
as we saw in the discussion of Animism, as living, 
intelligent beings, capable of working weal or woe 
to the inhabitants of earth. Thus the five planets, 
as five old men, ’tis said, appeared at court in the 
days of Shun (8. c. 2211), and assisted him by their 
advice until he abdicated to the Great Yi. As to 
the stars, the common belief is still that they are 
the souls of men and sages of the past or the resi- 


144 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


dences of such. These starry influences are, there- 
fore, almost flesh of man’s flesh and bone of his bone. 
They make him what he is. They are the heavenly 
ancestors to all his physical, mental and spiritual 
attributes. 

The Horoscope. 

Now, all these planets and stars have their regu- 
lar times when they are in control of the skies. 
They are the spirits in charge, as it were, for the 
time. Some control the year, some the month, some 
the day and others the hours. They do this, more- 
over, by turns in regular order. The important 
thing, therefore, is to find out who were in charge 
at the time of a man’s birth, and then the factors 
that compose him can be carefully calculated. This 
is not difficult. Each year, each month, each day, 
each hour, has one of the Heavenly ‘Stems and 
Earth Branches in control. These go in pairs, so 
that there is a cycle of the twelve and ten every 
sixty years. The months, days and hours, as the case 
may be, are similarly distinguished. 

The geomancer, therefore, when called in to decide 
some vital question, inquires as to the exact year, 
month, day and hour upon which his client was born. 
These are called a man’s “ Eight Characters,” this is 
a heavenly stem and an earth branch for each period 
of time. Each of these eight has in turn its fixed ele- 
ment, one or more. It is then but a matter of manip- 
ulation having all the elements given, to reckon, 
making due allowance for cancellation or addition of 
powers by mutual destruction or construction, which 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 145 


element is lacking and which is dominant in the in- 
dividual’s life. 
Thus a friend’s characters, for example, are: 


Hour Day Month Year 


ae sa Es cal 
a SIA Gp 


The top line represents the Heavenly Stems, the lower 
line the Earth Branches. The elements contained in 
these respective stems and branches are: 


1. Water 1. Water 1. Metal 1. Earth (Stems) 

1. Water 1. Earth 1. Fire 1. Wood (Branches) 
1. Fire 1. Earth 
1. Wood 


Adding the elements together and placing them in 
the order of mutual destruction, we have, therefore: 

3 Water, 2 Fire, 1 Metal, 2 Wood and 3 Earth. As 
the day is most important being Yang, and the heaven 
more important than the earth, we must begin with 
the water element, and by cancellation see which ele- 
ment predominates. Thus 3 of Water will cancel the 2 
of Fire and leave 1 of Water, and no Fire. The 1 of 
metal will cancel 2 of Wood and leave 1 of Wood. 
The 1 of Wood will cancel the 3 Earth and leave 2 of 
Earth. Finally the 2 of Earth will cancel the 1 which 
remained of Water and leave 1 of Earth as a final 
remainder. [Earth is, therefore, the predominating 
element in his composition. Unfortunately, his birth- 


146 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


day element is Water, and as Earth constantly destroys 
Water, he has a lifelong lack of harmony and struggle 
before him. 

How the Horoscope Hampers Marriage. 

This will greatly affect his marriage. Thus he must 
not marry a maiden whose predominant element is 
Earth like his own, for that would increase the Earth 
element, and his birthday element of Water would be 
still more weakened. ‘The penalty would be loss of 
vigour, decay and death. Nor must he marry one 
with a predominance of Fire, for Fire gives birth to 
Earth and would have equally disastrous results. He 
may marry one with a Metal element, for Earth pro- 
duces Metal and so would weaken the Earth, or he 
might marry one with the Water element, for Earth 
destroys Water and so again would be lessened by 
expending the power. 

His fiancée is, however, a Wood girl. Then the 
Wood can counteract the earth and harmony and pos- 
terity prevail in the home. It is sometimes said that 
maidens have an ingenious way of finding out pros- 
pective young men’s eight characters and predomi- 
nating elements, in China, and arranging their own 
nativity to exactly suit his. Still that is a dangerous 
proceeding. The penalty would be neither harmony 
nor offspring in such a home. You cannot perma- 
nently fool these fates. So, many an otherwise 
suitable union is declared impossible because of in- 
compatible elements. 

The same beliefs will affect his business or other 
career. He wishes to depart on important business. 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 147 


First, the geomancer is consulted, and finding that his 
element is Earth and that the elements ruling the next 
days or month are the Earth or Fire element, he is 
warned not to attempt it until the next week or month, 
or it may be a year. Indeed, he may even be required 
to change his business. The Earth being too strong, 
he should possibly give up farming or, to avoid the 
Fire element, give up the making of fire-crackers or 
being a cook. It will be better to go into selling fruit 
where Water abounds, or start a wood-yard. Thus 
experience, aptitude and opportunity are sacrificed to 
a supposed element. 

The Positions of Graves. 

Most imperative of all, perhaps, these beliefs enter 
into the burial of the dead. The relation of the dead 
to the living we have discussed in a former chapter, 
but must now note the paramount importance of the 
body being placed in a grave where the surrounding 
elements will mutually nourish, not destroy or even 
disturb the dead body. If the body suffers, woe be to 
the descendants. Their doom is sure. To avert such 
a calamity all the factors of Fung-Shui are employed to 
the utmost. The heavenly stems and earthly branches 
are brought in to determine the deceased’s eight char- 
acters, and from this, his dominating element. Next 
the geomancer must scan the horizon and range the 
country far and wide (if sufficient funds are forth- 
coming) to ascertain by a study of the mountains and 
plains in the district just which of the nine stars and 
five planets control the various formations. This will 
give him the elements in control of different sections 


148 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


on the landscape. Should, for example, the dead man’s 
predominating element be Earth, as supposed above, 
then the grave must not be near or face a spot where 
the Fire or Earth elements, as seen in a study of the 
mountains, predominate. These factors satisfactorily 
disposed of, it must be also arranged that the Green 
Dragon always to his left, is higher than the White 
Tiger to his right, or the latter would work disaster. 
The Wind must also be watched, especially that from 
the north, which would give birth to white ants, destroy 
the coffin and disturb the dead. Wind from a hollow 
near by will also enter the grave and cause consterna- 
tion. To keep out these fatal winds, therefore, a 
mound is frequently erected of a horseshoe shape sur- 
rounding the grave on all sides save a small opening 
at the foot or south. South winds bring prosperity, so 
are welcomed. 

The Dragon in the Watercourses. 

Very carefully also to be noted is the dragon as seen 
in the watercourses. In general, water seen running 
toward a grave brings with it good fortune. Its de- 
parture, however, must be hidden, otherwise the good 
fortune would depart as rapidly as it came. So the 
geomancer, or as he is called, ‘“ Yin-Yang ” teacher, 
works out the possibilities in great detail. He places 
his compass in the centre of the grave with its needle 
(as is done in a Chinese compass) pointing south. 
On the outside of the compass are marked the twelve 
earthly branches. These occupy the directions, 
north, south, east, west and two intervening points 
between each. 


PHYSICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNG-SHUI 149 


“Tf there is a bend in the course of the water, or a 
junction of two streams on the north,” to quote Dr. 
Edkins, “then the posterity of the occupant of the 
grave will be thieves if poor, and robbed if rich. If 
on the northeast, they will die young, be left as 
widows, or men without children. At the next divi- 
sion they will be greatly subject to disease. If directly 
east, then posterity will be vagabonds. Rebellious and 
disobedient offspring would be the result of a stream 
at the next point and snakes growing in the tomb the 
point nearest south. A stream directly south would 
surely cause descendants to lead licentious lives.” 

The good luck points of the compass need only be 
mentioned. They are different forms of long life, pos- 
terity, riches and honour. 

The Fatal Fruitage of the Five Element Theory. 

Such, in outline, is the story of the Chinese theory 
of the five elements and their fatal fruitage. Though 
some of the details given may seem tedious, they are 
trifling compared with the combinations and complica- 
tions cunningly spun out by the craftiness of char- 
latans. Thus they delight in details of effects upon 
the elder brother or on the younger brother and other 
relatives of the deceased; to speak of the hosts and 
guests among the hills and mountains; and to raise 
many complex cross-currents as to health, wealth and 
posterity not considered in this sketch. Lawsuits, 
heartburnings, perpetual uncertainties are the results. 

Foremost, however, of the fruitage is the feeling of 
Fate. The world and human life are in the clutches 
and control of the elements, Man is born with fixed 


150 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


proportions of these in his constitution. They are the 
factors in his destiny, his luck, his ‘‘ moving elements ” 
for good or bad, and what more can be said or done? 
He can but hope to avoid meeting certain adverse ele- 
ments lest a worse fate come upon him. It is thus an 
easy matter to become indifferent and callous to the 
worst conditions of life. It is simply a matter of des- 
tiny,—why struggle? Each man’s life has been fixed 
by superior powers. When fate wills it, you will rise; 
when the times are out of joint, just drift with the tide. 
At best, it conduces to content and cheerfulness under 
adverse conditions, catching again at some wisp of 
hope held out by another ingenious geomancer. At its 
worst, it means sluggishness, sullenness, stagnation, 
remorse and even suicide. Such is the story of another 
of the currents of China’s culture, 


VIL 
TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 


E have seen that the Chinese theory of 
things is a system that revolves and evolves. 
There is a constant process going on and this 
process assumes many more or less permanent forms 
as it proceeds. It is possible, therefore, to lay stress 
upon the process or upon the apparently perfect forms, 
upon the music itself or upon the notes which roughly 
represent its harmonies. In broad outline this has 
happened in Chinese thought. The result has been 
Taoism and Confucianism. It is possible, of course, 
to draw this line of cleavage too fine. Naturally there 
are many cross-currents of thought. But in the main 
it may be said that Confucius stressed the forms of 
development and hoped by them to fashion the stream. 
Lao-tze, the reputed founder of Taoism, emphasized 
the process itself, and sought to hear and heed the 
great harmonies and discords of his world. The sys- 
tem of Confucius we will consider in a later chapter. 
It is with Lao-tze we wish to think now. Let us first 
meet the man and his times. 
Lao-ize, Founder of Taoism. 
To do this we must go back to a time almost six 
hundred years before the Christian era. These were 
feudal days in China. Some five hundred years earlier 


151 


152 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


still the Chow dynasty had ushered in what are ever 
regarded as the golden days of Chinese history, when 
the great King Wu and his brother Duke Chow ruled 
the land. These had ruled by divine right of real lead- 
ership. But alas, for the license and lethargy bred of 
luxury, their descendants too often proved weaklings, 
dependent upon the worth of a past prestige. The 
power gradually passed into the hands of their great 
vassals, who held independent sway in some thirteen 
small states. Jealousies, strife, greed, weakness, war 
were everywhere rampant. It was a decadent age. 
All things were out of joint. Might was right. The 
feudal princes fought and revelled. The people 
wrought and suffered. 

During these unhappy times there is said to have 
lived at the capital city of the Empire an aged philos- 
opher named Li (604—? B. c.). Tradition says he 
was the Keeper of the Records of the Imperial Court. 
As to his earlier life, little is known though much is 
narrated as legend. It is said that he was born of a 
star, that he came forth from his mother’s left side, 
and that at birth his head was white and his counte- 
nance that of an aged man. From this latter circum- 
stance, he derived his name of Lao Tze (2. e., Old 
Child). 

The Philosophy of Inaction. 

Be his childhood as it may, his later years led him 
to ponder deeply as to the mysteries of life. He drank 
long draughts from the wells of wisdom of the past. 
Indeed, he seems to have pierced below the superficial 
and fatal simplicity of the plausible mathematics 





TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 153 


which was ready, as we have seen, to solve all by 
simple divisions of forces by twos, eights, sixty-fours, 
etc. He went back rather to the great original unity 
of things and dreamed of an all-unfolding, a coming to 
perfection and then a retreating again according to a 
Supreme Order. This ordered process he came to 
speak of as the “ Tao,” that is, the Road or Way of 
the World. As this Way progressed or declined, so 
man and all things waxed or waned with it. To strug- 
gle against it was useless! It was manifestly the high- 
est wisdom and duty of man to seek this Way and live 
in accordance with it. This was man’s ‘“ Teh,” that is, 
his Virtue or Wisdom. ‘These two words, then, ‘‘ Tao ” 
and “ Teh,” the Way of the World, and the Wisdom 
or Virtue of Man, were the two shibboleths of his 
system. 

It was a natural corollary that he should teach that 
at times at least men should not struggle. Even to 
seek to reform a decadent age was useless. What fool- 
ishness to writhe and work, recklessly striving to 
thwart the Way of the World! It is well enough to 
dream of better days and have every faith that they 
will return. But man must be patient and bide the 
proper time. lLao-tze has, therefore, another great 
word. It is INAcTIvITy. He was no permanent pes- 
simist. Nor was he fully a fatalist. He was rather 
in a sense an opportunist who believed that man 
should live near to nature’s heart, and that so doing 
was the surest way to live in tune with things. Know 
the Way of the World! Live in keeping with it! Be 
patient! Donomore! Wait! Time will tell! When 


154 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


that time comes all will be well for the heart of things 
is steadfast! 
Tao, the Supreme Law. 

The following quotations from his utterances will 
further bring out the old philosopher’s attitude towards 
his times and life in general: 

“There is something chaotic yet complete, which 
existed before Heaven and Earth. Oh, how still it is, 
and formless, standing alone without changing, reach- 
ing everywhere without suffering harm. It must be re- 
garded as the Mother of the Universe. Its name I 
know not. To designate it, I call it Tao. Endeavour- 
ing to describe it, I call it great. It passes on; passing 
on, it becomes remote; having become remote, it re- 
turns. . . . In the universe there are four powers, 
of which the sovereign is one. Man takes his law from 
the earth. The earth takes its law from the Heaven. 
Heaven takes its law from Tao, but the law of Tao is 
its own spontaneity.” ‘“‘ What is true of the world 
process as a whole is true of each factor that goes to 
its composition. Man’s chief end, therefore, is to know 
the laws of the world and live in accord therewith. All 
things alike do their work and then we see them sub- 
side. When they have reached their bloom each re- 
turns to its origin. Returning to their origin means 
rest of fulfilment or destiny. This reversion is an 
eternal law. To know that law is to be enlightened. 
Not to know it is misery and calamity. He who knows 
the eternal law is liberal-minded, he is just. Being 
just, he is kingly. Being kingly, he is akin to Heaven. 
Being akin to Heaven, he possesses Tao. Possessed of 


TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 155 


Tao, he endures forever. Though his body perish, yet 
he suffers no harm.” 
Man Should Submit. 

The absence of all bluster, the deep, smooth strength 
of this soul of things appealed to Lao-tze profoundly 
in his day of strife, and he urges: “‘ The Great Way is 
very smooth, but the people love the by-paths. If we 
had sufficient knowledge to walk in the great way, 
what we would most fear would be boastful display.” 
Therefore, “‘ Temper your sharpness, disentangle your 
ideas, moderate your brilliancy, live in harmony with 
your age. This is being in conformity with the prin- 
ciples of Tao. Such a man is impervious alike to 
favour and disgrace, to benefits and injuries, to honour 
and contempt. And therefore he is esteemed above 
all mankind.” 

In his eagerness to combat the endless selfish squab- 
bling of his age, he possibly over-emphasized his thesis, 
when he declared for complete passivity, utter in- 
action: ‘‘ Who is there that can make muddy water 
clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually 
become clear of itself. . . . A violent wind does not 
outlast the morning. A squall of rain does not outlast 
the day. Such is the course of Nature. And if Nature 
herself cannot sustain her efforts long, how much less 
can man! ” 

“The Empire has ever been won by letting things 
take their course. He who must always be doing is 
unfit to obtain the Empire.” Therefore: 

“Keep the mouth shut, close the gateways of 
sense, and as long as you live you will have no 


156 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


trouble. . . . Practise inaction, occupy yourself 
with doing nothing.” 

Our Western War-lords, however, worshippers of 
Woden and Nietzsche, today, might well learn from 
this old sage of Sinim: 

“He who serves a ruler of men in harmony with Tao 
will not subdue the Empire by force of arms. Such a 
course is wont to bring retribution in its train. : 
The good man wins a victory and then stops. He will 
not go on to acts of violence. Winning, he boasteth 
not. He will not triumph. He shows no arrogance. 
He wins because he cannot choose. After his victory 
he will not be overbearing.” 

Lao-tze Rebukes Confucius. 

Confucius, in the flush of his youthful schemes 
for reform, one day visited the aged sage in the capi- 
tal. Lao-tze’s reputed conversation at that time will 
further illustrate his teachings and the difference in 
standpoint of the two men. The young man, following, 


as he deemed, the examples of the ancients, urged that | 


injury should be met by justice. 

“Not so,” said the elder, ‘‘ but recompense injury 
with kindness.” 

“With what, then, will you recompense kindness? 
(Should we not) recompense injury with justice (i. e., 
punishment), and kindness with kindness? ” argued 
Confucius. 

“The good I would meet with goodness,” replied 
the older philosopher. ‘‘ The not-good I would also 
meet with goodness, for thus would I actualize good- 
ness. The faithful I would meet with faith. The not- 


~~ — 


TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 157 


faithful would I also meet with faith, for thus would 
I actualize faith.” 

To Confucius, still urging the ways of the ancients, 
Lao-tze further replied: “‘ Lord, those of whom you 
speak, the men and their homes, I suppose have alto- 
gether rotted away. Their words only are still extant. 
Moreover, if a sage finds his time, he rises. If he does 
not find his time, he wanders about like a pung plane 
(which grows on the sand and is carried about by the 
wind). I have heard that a wise merchant hides (his 
treasure) deeply, as if (his house) were empty. A 
sage of perfect virtue gives himself the appearance of 
being simple-minded. 

“‘ Give up your proud spirit, your many wishes, your 
external appearance, with your exaggerated plans. 
These are of no advantage to the sage’s person. This 
is what I have to communicate to you, sir. That is all.” 
The Tao-ieh Chin. 

Lest Lao-tze’s quietist naturalism and ultimate op- 
timism should be interpreted too far as selfish and 
pessimistic fatalism we quote further: 

“‘ The highest virtue is not (intentionally) virtuous, 
and on this account it is (deserving of the name) 
virtue. The lower sort of virtue is (anxious) not (to 
be) wanting in virtue, and therefore is not (true) 
virtue. The highest virtue does nothing, and therefore 
does not trust to (or rest on) any action. Virtue of 
the inferior kind (anxiously) acts and trusts to action.” 

Lao-tze living out his theory, ’tis said, finally gave 
up his position at court and decided to leave China for 
the west. Crossing a pass in the mountains, he was 


158 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


persuaded by the keeper, himself a philosopher, to 
commit his teachings to writing. This, tradition says, 
he did, calling his treatise, as might be conjectured, 
the Book of Tao and Teh; or, as it is usually trans- 
lated, the Book of Reason and Virtue. Then he left 
for the west and was heard of no more. 

Chwang-tze. 

One of his greatest and truest disciples was the bril- 
liant Chwang-tze, who lived a couple of hundred years 
later. He taught: 

“The way of heaven is not to act, and therein 
and thereby to be the most honoured of all things. 
The way of men is to act and so to be involved in 
trouble.” 

It is narrated of Chwang-tze that, true to his teach- 
ings, he forbade his friends to give his corpse inter- 
ment, saying: 

“JT will have heaven and earth for my sarcoph- 
agus. ‘The sun and moon shall be the insignia when 
I lie in state, and all creation shall be mourners at 
my funeral.” 

When his relatives further remonstrated, saying 
that the birds of the air would tear his corpse, he 
replied: 

‘What matters that? Above there are the birds of 
the air, and below there are the worms and the ants. 
If you rob the one to feed the other, what injustice is 
there done? ” 

Later Misinterpreters. 

But it has been the fate of Lao-tze, as of many an- 

other philosopher, to be misunderstood and misinter- 


TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 159 


preted. He has been distorted, despoiled, slain in the 
house of his friends. His protest by withdrawal from 
public affairs led others to urge the hermit life. His 
quietism was interpreted too much as a doctrine of 
laissez-faire. His wish to live wholly in keeping with 
the Way of the World led to a superficial investigation 
of nature. A rude alchemy, search for the transmuta- 
tion of metals, the elixir of life, and divination and 
incorporeity then followed in later centuries. Today, 
Taoism has degenerated into little more than a system 
of magic words and mummeries, charms and chants 
to fight demons, and its priests into credulous char- 
latans who foretell and forestall future calamities. 
We can trace these but briefly. 

Alchemy and Transformations. 

It seemed to some but a natural sequence to 
Lao-tze’s emphasis upon the Way of the World that 
they should seek more the secrets of nature. Be it 
logical or accidental, the records show that especially 
during the days of the Great Han dynasty, B. c. 206- 
A. D. 220, hundreds of those professing to be the dis- 
ciples of the old philosopher found their way out into 
the hills and caves of the earth, and sought by investi- 
gation, meditation, alchemy, purification, physical exer- 
cises and various potents to transmute nature at will 
and free themselves from the trammels of the flesh. 
A record of a few of these would-be disciples will show 
us more clearly their aims and pretensions than many 
abstract statements. (Cf. Mayer’s Chinese Readers’ 
Manual.) 

Hsu-sun’s mother dreamed that a phoenix dropped 


160 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


a pearl into her palm. It was the sign of an excep- 
tional birth, but in early days the youth showed no 
unusual traits. One day he shot a fawn and was so 
moved by the distress of the creature’s mother, as she 
licked its lifeless body, that he broke his bow and 
began to study. Later he showered blessings upon the 
people by healing diseases with occult preparations, 
subduing noxious reptiles and assisting the needy by 
the gold which he possessed the power of transmuting 
from inferior metals. At one place he caused water to 
gush from a rock, at another he conferred perpetual 
security on a devout believer by painting a pine on the 
walls of his dwelling. At length, when one hundred 
and thirty-six years of age, he was caught up to heaven 
with all his family, even the dogs and poultry of the 
house sharing in the ascension. 

Hu-kung, the Old Man of the Pot, also gave large 
sums to the poor from the money received for miracu- 
lous cures. He was accustomed at night to disappear 
from mortal view. His retreat was a mystery to all, 
until a man spying from an upper window found that 
it was the magician’s practice to withdraw at sunset to 
the interior of a hollow gourd which hung suspended 
from a door-post. 


Tieh-kwai Hsien-sen, the Man with the Iron Staff 


(his real name was Li), is said to have been instructed 
by Lao-tze himself, who at times descended to earth 
and at other times called his pupil up to heaven. On 
one occasion, when about to mount on high at his 
patron’s bidding, the pupil, before departing in spirit 
to voyage through the air, left a disciple of his own 


TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 161 


to watch over his body, with the command that if, 
after seven days had expired he had not returned, his 
body might be dismissed into space. Unfortunately, 
during the sixth day the watcher was called away to 
attend the death-bed of his mother. Li, returning at 
the end of the seventh, found his body had disap- 
peared. At that very moment, however, a beggar was 
just dying, so the returning spirit entered the body 
of the lame and crooked beggar. In this shape the 
philosopher continued his existence, supporting his 
halting footsteps with an iron staff. 

Hwang Chu-pin, at the age of fifteen, led his flocks 
into the mountain. Entering a cave, he remained there 
for more than forty years. His brother one day met 
a wandering priest who said to him, ‘“‘ There is a shep- 
herd lad among the mountains.”’ Concluding that this 
was his long-lost relative, he made search and discov- 
ered his brother seated in a cave surrounded by blocks 
of white stone. On being questioned as to the where- 
abouts of his sheep the recluse uttered a sound, and 
the blocks of stone became at once transformed into 
vast flocks of living sheep. 

Chang-kwoh led an erratic life, performing wonder- 
ful feats of necromancy. His constant companion was 
a white mule, which carried him thousands of miles 
in a day, and which, when he halted, he folded up 
and hid in his wallet. When he again required its 
services he squirted water upon it with his mouth 
and the beast suddenly resumed its former size. 
The emperor summoned him to court, but the mes- 
sage had scarce reached him when, so the Taoists 


162 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


assert, he entered on immortality without suffering 
bodily dissolution. 

Hien Yuan-tsi appeared in the time of the Tang 
dynasty (A. D. 847). He was then reputed to be many 
centuries old, though he still retained the blooming 
appearance of youth. When he wandered in mountain 
solitudes in search of drugs, the fiercest beasts of the 
forest attended his footsteps to guard him from harm. 
With the herbs he gathered he wrought many marvel- 
lous cures. His cruse of medicine was inexhaustible 
and he had the gift of appearing in many places at 
once. Summoned before the emperor, he was mocked 
by one of the court ladies. Suddenly he caused her to 
be transformed from a lovely damsel of sixteen into a 
bent and wrinkled old hag. On her entreating pardon 
he caused her to return to her former shape. 
Methods of Acquiring Magic Powers. 

These illustrations will suffice to show the power 
over nature which these devotees of Taoism claimed, 
and are to this day reputed to have possessed. How, 
according to their assertion, are such powers attained? 
It embraced moral, physical, medical, and magic ele- 
ments. Let us illustrate again: 

Kwang Cheng-tze appears to have emphasized the 
moral side. He urged the ancient emperor Hwang Ti 
to cultivate complete serenity of mind and tranquillity 
of body, to disregard external sensations, to contemn 
worldly knowledge and pursuits and to withdraw him- 
self from worldly joys and sorrows. By this means the 
mortal frame would be sublimated into a perpetual 
longevity. 


TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 163 


Hsu-yiu illustrates the same tendency. He was once 
offered an imperial position. Lest this should influence 
his worldly ambition, he is said to have washed out his 
ears. He was accustomed to drink, from the hollow 
of nis hand, the water of a brook that ran by his 
hermitage. A friend gave him a gourd which at times 
produced a sound pleasing to his senses, so he threw 
it away to prevent all contamination. 

Others again secured the secret directly from nature. 
Thus Han Wu had a famous vase in his palace to catch 
the dew. He hoped by drinking this to attain immor- 
tality, but the experiment seemed to have failed. 

Some were more successful and succeeded in secur- 
ing magic powers by eating the powder of mother of 
pearl. A very common lotion was made from the jade 
stone and is called in alchemy the Jade Beverage. 
According to the prescription, from the mountains pro- 
ducing jade stone a liquid flows, which ten thousand 
years after issuing from the rocks, becomes congealed 
into a substance as clear as crystal. If to this be added 
an appropriate herb it again becomes liquid and a 
draught of it confers the gift of living for a thousand 
years. Another concoction of this will give the power 
of incorporeality and of soaring through the air. 

The Philosopher’s Stone. 

The most prized and noted of these magic powers 
was the Elixir of Gold. This was the famous Philoso- 
pher’s Stone which was able to produce gold from baser 
metals and to confer the gift of immortality. This was 
a common belief in China a few hundred years after 
‘Lao-tze’s time, that is, about 300-100 B, c, Indeed, it 


164 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


is possible that the Arabs received the idea from China 
and through them it spread to Europe, where it pro- 
duced such men as Bombastus Theophrastus Paracel- 
sus many centuries later. The basis of the elixir was 
usually cinnabar, that is, red sulphuret of mercury. 
The primitive alchemists found it easy, evidently, by a 
little heat to drive off the sulphur and collect the mys- 
terious globules of mercury, which readily gave the 
idea of the transmutability of all metals. 

This was further used as the outer elixir to accom- 
pany an inner preparation of mental and moral process 
whereby the body became freed from all impurity of 
earth and worthy of admission among the ranks of the 
genil. It would seem a simple process thus to secure 
such mystic powers, but before anyone is tempted to 
make the trial it should be added that other prescrip- 
tions declare that eight metals are required, and 
further that there must be some mysterious “ nine 
revolutions ” and “seven returnings.” In encourage- 
ment, however, it may be said that the results are very 
definite. Thus the divine elixir of nine revolutions 
causes those who swallow it to be transformed into 
white cranes. The drug, moreover, produced by the 
seven returnings and nine revolutions, if one half a 
potion be swallowed, confers perpetual longevity on 
earth, whilst the entire quantity gives at once the power 
of ascending on high among the genii. 

After all this it will be easily understood that Li 
Shao-chuin, one of the earliest adepts in alchemy, 
was readily believed when he declared at the court of 
Emperor Han Wu: “I know how to harden snow and 





TAOIST TRADITIONS AND THAUMATURGY 165 


change it into white silver. I know how cannabar 
transforms its nature and passes into yellow gold. I 
can rein the flying dragon and visit the extremities of 
earth. I can bestride the hoary crane and soar above 
the nine degrees of heaven,” 


VIIl 
TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 


ROM the foregoing it will be readily seen where 
Taoism secures its gods. It naturally worships 
these ancient mystics, who, it is claimed, became 

Immortals and are still able to ramble at will through 
the universe, aiding whom they will. This is especially 
true of the “ Eight Immortals,” deified, it is said, in 
the Mongol dynasty, and who are supposed to be un- 
usually powerful and compliant, appearing frequently 
on earth. 

Some of these worthies we have already mentioned. 
The feats of others are in a similar vein. Thus Lu 
Tung-ping, while holding office as a magistrate, re- 
ceived instruction in the secrets of alchemy at the hand 
of an immortal who lived over a thousand years before. 
Lu, influenced by Buddhism, expressed an ardent de- 
sire to convert his fellowmen to the true belief. He 
was exposed accordingly to ten temptations, all of 
which he overcame. Thereupon he was invested with 
the formulas of magic and a sword of supernatural 
power, with which he traversed the empire slaying 
dragons and ridding the earth of divers kinds of evil. 
He is especially worshipped today by the barbers. 
Lao-tze Worshipped. 

Lao-tze, of course, is also worshipped. He is given, 


166 





ee ee 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 167 


naturally, the highest seat in the pantheon, on an equal- 
ity with two other “‘ Pure Ones.” Indeed, he is now 
said to have had many incarnations before he appeared 
on earth during the Chow dynasty. Some works even 
aver that he is the incarnation of the Great Original 
Principle of the World. This is sometimes shown in 
temples by placing a figure of his former self to his 
right, represented as a very aged and high-browed 
man, and behind and about him the mystic symbols 
of the eight diagrams and even the spots said to have 
been seen by Fuh Hsi on the Dragon-Horse. 
Innumerable Minor Gods. 

This tendency to deify the forces of nature is seen 
by the creation of Five Old Men, that is the five plan- 
ets. These, as previously explained, are said to have 
appeared at court in the tenth year of the famous Em- 
peror Shun, B. c. 2255, and to have assisted him 
by counsels until his abdication many years later. 
The sun, moon and stars are also similarly deified. 
Some of these latter form the gods of rain, fire, thun- 
der, etc., so often seen. 

To these must be added the deification of heroes and 
other characters in history, some real, some fictitious. 
In the great province of Szechwan one of the most 
famous of these is Li-pin, who is said to have con- 
structed, about the third century B. c., the great irri- 
gation system which makes the province so remarkably 
productive. As Chwan Chu, the Lord of the Streams, 
he is worshipped all over the province of Szechwan and 
elsewhere in China. His temple at Kwanhsien, now 
alas! largely destroyed by fire, where the river first 


168 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


divides, is said to have been the finest in China, and 
especially in August was thronged with worshippers 
bringing their thanks and petitions for a bountiful 
harvest. Prolonged theatricals were also given be- 
fore him at that time and other honours showered 
upon him. 

But the list of Taoist gods seems practically inex- 
haustible. Each trade, such as carpenters, masons, 
barbers, tailors, etc., has its special presiding spirit. 
There are gods of wealth, of medicine, of the kitchen; 
gods of horses, cows, sheep, snakes, grasshoppers; 
groups of gods, such as the Forty Masters; the 
Twenty-five Gods who prevent murder, robbery, forni- 
cation, falsehood, drunkenness—five to each; then 
there are the six gods of lice, the goddess of fornica- 
tion, the god of manure, star gods, good and evil; and 
many animals such as the tiger and crane who carry 
immortals, the goat which heals diseases of all sorts 
by rubbing its image, the dog that ate a part of the 
immortal elixir, and the hare which mixes the potion 
under a willow-tree in the moon. Only Kiang Tai- 
kung, who, it is said, was caught up and secured at 
the Kuen Len mountains a list of the gods and their 
various duties, could enumerate them all. (Cf. Du- 
Bose, Dragon, Image and Demon.) 

The Pearly Emperor. 

We must, however, before leaving this division, men- 
tion the chief god of all. One would naturally suppose 
that this would be Lao-tze, but this is not the case. It 
is the great Pearly Emperor. Lao-tze, himself, with 
the other two Pure Ones, whom he is said to have 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 169 


created, sits back in perpetual peace and entrusts all 
government to the Pearly Emperor, who is thus the 
active ruler of all things in heaven and earth. Ac- 
cording to tradition, the Spiritually Precious, the sec- 
ond of the Three Pure Ones, blew his breath upon his 
jade sceptre, which changed into a human being and 
entered the body of a queen. When the young prince 
born later came to rule, he took all the gold of the 
treasury and gave alms. He soon resigned his royal 
estate and became a hermit for one hundred years. 
The next two hundred, he spent in philanthropic arts. 
Then he became a pupil of the Spiritually Precious and 
later a humble immortal, till, upon his thousandth 
birthday, he was made god of heaven, earth and men. 
History, however, says he was a man named Chang, a 
magician, to whom an emperor in the T’ang dynasty 
gave the title of Pearly Emperor. As his popularity 
has grown the people have gradually given him his 
present exalted name and place. 

The Pearly Emperor has naturally his courtiers. 
He has thirty-six ministers and two chief assistants, 
one of whom has three heads and six arms, the other, 
four heads and eight arms. The chief minister is 
Tsung-chih, whose chief assistants are the snake and 
the turtle, always seen by his side or at his feet. He 
was a most precocious youth. At ten he understood 
the classics in one glance. At fifteen he left home, 
going to the Snowy Mountains to become a hermit, but 
could not endure the cold. On his return home he met 
an old woman grinding a crowbar. He asked what 
she was doing? 


170 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY. 


“Oh, I’m grinding this crowbar into a needle,” she 
replied. 

‘‘But how can you accomoplish such an arduous 
undertaking? ” 

“Oh, one can do anything with patience,” she an- 
swered as she continued her work. 

He continued his struggles, and after forty-nine 
years longer in the hills became an immortal, and 
secured his present position. 

Attaining Immortality. 

We have seen, so far, something of how the Taoist 
system arose in a doctrine of opportunism living in 
keeping with the Way of the World. This we saw 
developed into a crude study of nature and ramified 
into alchemy and a quest for a form of immortality, 
which, in turn, has largely given to Taoism its pan- 
theon. It was this quest for immortality or incorpo- 
reality, then, that for centuries in the palmiest days 
of Taoism became its ruling passion. It is, after all, 
a great human quest with a special development. We 
have described only one of its roads. In its later 
development it had, at least, five. These vary, na- 


turally, according to the degree of “immortality,” | 


attained through magic lotions, physical exercises and 
self-culture. 

With the magic lotions we have already dealt suf- 
ficiently. The physical exercise consisted usually in 
the simple process of inhaling more breath than one 
exhaled. Self-culture in turn meant the freeing of the 
mind from all forms of evil desires. One prescription 
reads: ‘‘ When the passions are perfect one will desire 


ne ee ee, ee 


a Se 


ee ee ee ee eS 


se, 
oo 


0 eee rs Be ee ne a es, a I ee ee. ee 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 171 


no evil, when the breath is perfected one will desire 
no food, when the spirit is perfected one will desire no 
sleep, when all three are perfected one attains to in- 
corporeal immortality.” 

Another system which also speaks of three precious 
things in the process denotes them as the fecundating 
fluid, the breath and the saliva. The first is to be 
drawn upward, the second is to be inhaled more than 
exhaled, the third is to be swallowed. The first unites 
gradually with the breath, these with the saliva and all 
three form an invisible spiritual child within the body 
of the man. This immaterial child grows larger and 
larger, slowly finding its way along the individual’s 
spine to the head. Then it may gradually gain power 
to go out of the body and return again at will to its 
home. It must, however, in these earlier stages, be 
very carefully protected when out on these initial 
flights, as it is liable to be devoured by devils. When 
still later this spiritual child becomes as large as the 
original body of the person who has given it birth, it 
can leave its home at pleasure, travelling where it will. 
Eventually the human body is wholly discarded and, 
according to its degree of attainment, it joins one of 
the various orders of celestials. 

The Five Degrees of Immortals. 

As already noted, there are five kinds or grades of 
these immortals. Let us study them more fully. First, 
there are the demon immortals. These are the disem- 
bodied spirits of those who have died in the ordinary 
way, having lived evil lives and made no pretense or 
effort at attaining immortality, They find no resting- 


172 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


place in the abodes either of man or of immortals. 
They are denied alike metempsychosis and eternal 
bliss. Thus they wander about the world, sometimes 
singly, sometimes in plundering bands, a constant 
menace to mankind. Here, doubtless, Taoism has been 
largely following Buddhism, and has provided a hell 
for such, but only the worst are imprisoned there. The 
legions of others ramble about the world doing all 
manner of depredation: 

Demon Immortals. 

They are, however, by hypothesis, subject to the 
gods, and the priests, who have authority from the 
gods. But, like the robbers and wicked in the land 
of the living, they have many ways of evading the 
hand of other-world justice. Indeed, the gods fre- 
quently employ them as agents to punish individuals 
who despise, deny or defy the power of their celestial 
sovereignty. ‘This, as we shall see later, places great 
power in the hands of the priests, who are, as it were, 
the lawyers who alone can make matters right with 
the courts above. The first emperor of the Min dy- 
nasty, himself an ex-priest, fearing that the tens of 
thousands slain in the bloody revolution which he 
headed might return a hungry horde to haunt his 
newly-founded dynasty, ordered three feasts a year 
for them, in April, August and November. Later, 
these feasts were made to include all “ orphan spirits,” 
that is, those having no posterity in the land of the 
living. At such times the priests, to feed these, take 
a bowl of rice and throw it out grain by grain. This 
may seem meagre food for such needy myriads, but it 





TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 178 


is readily explained that each grain becomes multiplied 
indefinitely in the other world. The throats of the 
spirits, too, it must be understood, are small like a 
hair. Indeed, only the chanting of prayers by the 
priests enlarges them sufficiently to allow the spirits to 
swallow, readily, the tiny grains flicked forth with 
finger and thumb for their sustenance. 

Demon New Year. 

From the first to the fifteenth of the seventh moon 
is one of the great feast-times for these devils or dis- 
embodied spirits. Just as the first to the fifteenth of 
the first moon, that is New Year holidays, is the great 
time of rejoicing in the land of the living, so the cor- 
responding time just half a year later, the beginning 
of midsummer, is a time of feasting in the land of 
darkness. Then all the demons in hell, however 
hideous, are apparently let loose for a season. At this 
time the people in the land of light make special 
preparations, and before every door piles of cash-paper 
and gold and silver sycee are burned, thus sending over 
presumably potential millions in money. The temples 
are also crowded and thousands of dollars’ worth of 
paper is consumed, all, of course, to be turned into 
real gold, silver and copper cash in the world of 
darkness, and appease the greedy, hungry demons. 
Who would dare to defy their power, or risk their 
wrath by withholding his contribution? And who 
knows but he, himself, will be such a shade some 
day? 

Human Immortals. 
The second kind of genii includes those of the human 


174 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


kind. They are the souls of men who have succeeded 
in freeing themselves from infirmities of the flesh and 
perturbation of spirit. After death they go to live in 
the land of shades. This, we have seen, is just a dupli- 
cate of the land of the living. It has presumably all 
the eighteen provinces, their former-type rulers, such 
as viceroys, prefects and county magistrates. It has 
also a swarm of yamen runners, just as on earth, who 
are ever seeking to grind the faces of the poor and 
unwary. For their support these dwellers in the shade 
land are ever dependent upon the living. This, we 
have also seen, has a profound effect upon ancestor 
worship which as we have already stated Is, in many 
ways, truly the real religion of China. 

The Third Degree. 

The third stage consists of those who have attained 
to immortality while in this present world, but not to 
the higher degrees. They are free, as described above, 
to leave the body of flesh and wander at will upon the 
earth. They usually live among the mountains in 
solitude and splendour. There are, for example, what 
are known as the Ten Cave Heavens, supposed to be 
great caves in some of the sacred mountains of China. 
There, these genii congregate and pass their days freed 
from the flesh, its limitations and its lusts. The fifth 
of these Cave Heavens, we are assured, is at Kwan- 
hsien, at the head of the ancient irrigation system of’ 
the province of Szechwan. 

Deified Genit. 

Those of the fourth degree are deified genii. These 

have bidden farewell to earth, and have departed to 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 175 


roam among the islands of the blessed. There are, 
at least, three of these famous islands. They are said 
to be located somewhere in the Pacific, away to the 
east of China’s coast-line. One island, Ying Chow, 
we are informed, is over one thousand miles square. 
The sesame, upon which the genii feed, grows there. 
From a great jade rock flows a spring resembling wine. 
One draught of this gives eternal life. Another island 
has shores strewn with gems whos lustre nourishes the 
genii there. In the reign of the celebrated First Em- 
peror, 250 B. C., an expedition was sent in search of 
these islands. It was composed of a large troop of 
young men and maidens and is said to have reached 
the shores of the islands, but a strong wind drove 
it back. 

Celestial Gods. 

Those of the fifth degree are celestial gods. They 
have attained to consummate purity and perpetual life 
in their heaven. There they inhabit the nine degrees 
of heaven. These are sometimes represented as rising 
in circles high above the earth. At other times, they 
are identified with the palaces of the famous Western 
Royal Mother. She lives in the Kuen Len Mountains 
to the west of China and is at the head of troops of 
genii. Here is located a lake of gems, and a peach-tree 
the fruit of which confers the gift of immortality. 
There the ‘“ four great rivers ” take their rise. Around 
the base of the mountain-chain flow the blue river, the 
white river, the red river and the black river. Report 
says their abode has walls piled in nine-fold gradu- 
ations to a height of ‘‘ eleven thousand miles, one hun- 


176 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


dred and fourteen paces, two feet and six inches.” 
Within the vast enclosure grow trees and grain. These 
include various jade trees, trees of pearls and the tree 
of immortality. The grains are sesame and coriander, 
which genii use instead of the ordinary foods of mor- 
tals. There are also twelve wondrous towers built of 
the five coloured jade stones. 

The Western Royal Mother. 

In this fairy region the Western Royal Mother has 
at times entertained even Emperors and other regal 
personages, summoning them to her presence by means 
of her two azure-winged bird-messengers. Here, too, 
comes, at stated periods, her husband, Duke Wood, 
who rules as Lord King of the East, as she does Queen 
of the West. 

This search for transmutation and attainment to 
the ranks of the genii is rarely found today. ‘The 
phrases, ’tis true, are still with us, and one hears much 
of “long life that ne’er grows old” and the magic 
medicine which gives incorporeity. Indeed, some may 
still be met searching such medicine in the mountains, 
but it is a rare thing to find a really philosophical fol- 
lower who by purity, breathing, physical exercises and 
magic lotions hopes to attain to the ranks of the 
immortals. 

The Taoism of today may be largely summed up 
in four factors, namely, gods, demons, people and 
priests. Of the gods we have already spoken suffi- 
ciently. They comprise, as seen, beings innumer- 
able, in origin, animal, vegetable, mineral, historical 
and imaginary men, heroes and personified princi- 





TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 177 


ples, all, presumably, organized and subordinated in 
endless ranks and functions to the great Ruler, the 
Pearly Emperor. 

Demons. 

The demons, too, are endless in number. They may 
appear suddenly in any place, singly, or in pairs, 
dozens, droves or myriads, and are constantly preying 
upon humanity. At times they come employed by the 
gods to punish mankind. More frequently they are 
working their own nefarious wills. Thus there is ever 
an intermittent war between the world of men in the 
land of light and this world of demons from the land 
of shades. They, in the darkness, can readily see us 
and all our movements. We cannot recognize even 
their presence till the attack is launched. For this 
they use with impunity diseases, plagues, pains, boils, 
blindness, winds, fires, floods, thunderbolts, drought, 
in short any and all of the ills and trials to which 
humanity may be subjected. Is it strange that the 
masses of mankind in China live in constant fear of 
offending these hordes of heartless enemies? Wretched 
humanity that they are, who shall free them from the 
thraldom of such tormentors? Is there, then, no hope? 
The answer is, the priesthood. 

As the heavens are above the earth, as the Yang is 
above the Yin, so the gods are above the demons and 
can, if they will, control them. Could every afflicted 
one go personally to a god and seek aid, that would 
indeed be a simple matter. But there seems to be no 
such short method of approach to officials in the land 
of either light or darkness in the Orient. You must 


178 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


know definitely who the responsible official is, where 
to approach him, what clothing to wear, what language 
to use, what fees are to be paid, when your case will 
probably be heard, what underlings must be bought 
over and endless other subsidiary matters. This is 
just the peculiar province of the priest. He is an 
active agent of the gods, is perfectly familiar with 
all the forms of pleading and court ceremonies so 
that he can not only reach the presence of the 
power desired, but almost command that power at 
will. For the priest gets his power from the Taoist 
Pope, and the latter is the Emperor of all the Earth 
in ruling the affairs of demons, quite as the Emperor 
of China is (or was) for men. Each in his own 
sphere is equally the representative of heaven upon 
earth. 

The Taoist Popes. 

Tradition would have us trace this peculiar power 
of these Taoist popes far back into early history. The 
son of the builder of the great wall, the unfortunate 
Second Emperor (221-209 B. c.), was a weakling. He 
was easily overthrown by the House of Han. One of 
the chief counsellors of the latter, in their triumph, 
was Chang-liang. He, however, refused to accept 
either office or honours on the ascension of the new 
dynasty, saying simply that since with “ three inches 
of tongue” he had attained the dignity of counsellor 
to his sovereign, he desired no further glory. The 
secret of his wisdom lay in a mysterious book received, 
one day, from an old man whose sandal he had re- 
turned. Chang, therefore, retired to pursue further 





TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 179 


the doctrines there learned, and to seek the path of 
the genii. 

The attainment of poutifical glory was, however, 
denied him, being reserved for his reputed descendant 
of the eighth generation, one Chang Tao-ling, also 
known as Chang Tien-si, that is Chang, the Preceptor 
of Heaven, later to be styled the first of the Taoist 
popes. This descendant is said to have mastered the 
doctrines of Lao-tze at the age of seven and to have 
soon become familiar with the philosophy of divination. 
Refusing all offers of official position, he early retired 
to the mountains of the far Western province of 
Szechwan. Here he lived at the famous Chin-chen 
mountain and cave, not far from Kwanhsien, the source 
of the great irrigation system of the province. Here, 
also, he devoted himself anew to the study of alchemy 
and to cultivating the virtues of purity and mental 
abstraction. Thanks to instruction conveyed in a 
mystic treatise supernaturally received from the hands 
of Lao-tze himself, he secured the elixir of life. He 
did not swallow it at once, however, but journeying 
far eastward to the Dragon-tiger mountains in the 
province of Kiang-si, lived to the ripe old age of one 
hundred and twenty-three. Finally, he swallowed the 
magic lotion and ascended to the heavens to enjoy the 
bliss of immortality. 

Later generations have crowned him as the head of 
Taoism on earth. His soul is said to descend, gener- 
ation by generation, to one of his descendants, who is 
thus his successor. Large tracts of land have been 
granted the family, and there among the hills they have 


180 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


lived in semi-royal state. The present pope cannot, 
as did the first pope, leave his body and fly at will all 
over the earth and even up to heaven into the presence 
of the Pearly Emperor. But he still retains his re- 
nowned ancestors’ seals of office, his magic sword and 
his right to write charms which subdue demons, 
monsters and evil-star influences in heaven, earth 
or hell. ‘These powers this pope-potentate can, of 
course, in turn bequeath in measure to all Taoist 
priests and others who come to him and properly 
and persuasively seek his aid. The advent of the 
Republic has considerably curtailed this power, yet 
thousands of the priesthood from all parts of the 
land still seek out this mystic spot in the mountains 
or wherever the pope is found and, returning to their 
temples, live armed for life with seals, swords and 
charms which cast out all manner of creatures of 
darkness and incidentally bring in the necessary cash 
to their possessors. 

Charms. 

The charms themselves naturally ape decrees of 
emperors. ‘They are made up of ordinary characters, 
usually greatly distorted or symbolized, with, at times, 
the image of a god depicted above and his signature 
below. They are thus mandates from the Pearly Em- 
peror or other high authority to demons, to flee at pain 
of punishment or death from the spot or person they 
are troubling. Written upon royal (yellow) paper 
with, if possible, an official pen or pencil, they are to 
be properly hung over beds, doorways, bridges, worn 
about the person, burned, or stewed and eaten, accord- 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 181 


ing to the instructions of the initiated priest or pos- 
sessor. If such do not bring positive and timely 
results, then there is always the rather more expensive 
but naturally more efficacious way of calling in a corps 
of priests who will with their swords and charms and 
incantations work on diligently for days, until the 
demons or their presumed victim or his funds have 
departed. 

The Buddhists, too, have their charms. Indeed, it 
is often impossible to say which charms are Buddhist 
and which Taoist. But the Buddhist priest usually 
keeps more strictly to his temple and waits for invi- 
tation. Not so, many of the Taoists; being less in 
respect than their Buddhist confréres, they do not 
hesitate to canvass for custom. 

The Priests a Menace. 

Readily recognized by their wide-brimmed crown- 
less hats, through which the hair, done up as a top- 
knot, protrudes, these wanderers may be met in city, 
town, or far-scattered country by-paths, visiting from 
house to house, selling charms and seeking openings. 
Even were this all, the danger would be serious enough, 
as they are a constant source of superstition. But 
they do much more. They are the source also of wide- 
spread stories, all looking to the stirring-up of unrest 
and uncertainty and thus the increase of their wretched 
trade. To this end not only are rumours started, to be 
rehearsed and enlarged by ever-increasing hearsay, but 
placards are actually printed and posted or scattered 
broadcast upon susceptible human soil. Following is 
a sample of such literature. It is a strange mixture of 


182 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Buddhism and Taoism, and illustrates how these two 
religions are often almost inextricably commingled 
today. It is introduced by three mystic characters, 
to show its high authority, and is entitled: ‘“‘ Words 
That Save! ”’ 

A Priestly Proclamation. 

“The holy god Kwan-ti (god of war) has himself 
written that during the present year one-seventh of 
the people will die. This report of the plagues that 
are about to sweep over the earth has moved to deep 
concern the Goddess of Mercy, and a way is hereby 
given whereby people may avert calamity. Those who 
distribute one of these notices will avoid the calamity 
due to fall upon one person. Those who distribute ten 
of these notices will avert the calamities due to fall 
upon ten persons. Those who distribute one hundred 
of these notices will avert the calamities due to fall 
upon one hundred persons. People who see these 
mystic characters and fail to distribute them will 
afterwards die through vomiting blood. These 
charmed characters have been written in Peking by 
the Hon. Tung of Nanking, and sent to every province 
and city. 

“Those who disbelieve these words will wait and 
see. Those who believe will find that during the eighth 
and ninth months people will die without number. 
Later, in the tenth month, the hens will desist from 
cackling and the dogs from barking (that is, these ani- 
mals, which usually are so brave as to try to frighten 
off demons at night, will be overawed), and at mid- 
night there will be heard the ceaseless call of goblins 


TAOIST DEITIES AND DEMONS 183 


issuing from all quarters. By all means, answer them 
not, lest calamity overtake you. 

‘“‘ Later, at noon on the ninth day of the moon, the 
god of plague will descend on the earth, and search out 
good and evil men. The good will receive blessing, 
while the evil will be overtaken by calamity. Those 
who on the first and fifteenth of the moon practise 
vegetarianism, chant the Buddhist classics and per- 
form good works may obviate all punishment for 
wickedness and be at peace. The holy gods have also 
prescribed a medicine, viz., Chai-hu 4 oz., and raw 
ginger, three pieces to be boiled together and drunk as 
tea. In addition, take cinnabar and with it write these 
three magic characters and post them on the outside 
of the door. All who see these should cherish them in 
their hearts and by no means regard them as heedless 
words. 

Ten Woes. 

Then follow the Ten Woes: 

“Woe I. The gods are restless. Woe II. Shantung 
province is ill at ease. Woe III. Disastrous floods will 
visit the western provinces. Woe IV. Wolves will ap- 
pear in all parts. Woe V. Disorder reigns in the prov- 
ince of Kiangsi. Woe VI. Half the population are 
about to die. Woes VII and VIII. Unfit for trans- 
lation. Woe IX. The roads are devoid of pedestrians. 
Woe X. Trouble is in store for the year. Paste these 
characters outside the door.” 

With this Proclamation we may close our study of 
Taoism. Started by a traditional lover of harmony, 
who thought to live near to Nature’s heart, later gener- 


184 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


ations of its adherents have drifted into pantheism and 

polytheism and in these later days into pandemonism. 

The present contribution of Taoism is well told as 

above—‘‘ Midnight—there will be heard the ceaseless 
call of goblins, issuing from all quarters.” 





IX 
CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 


ETWEEN three and five thousand years ago, 
men were already thinking high and holy 
thoughts in Eastern Asia. The era began a 

thousand years before Abram came forth from Ur of 
the Chaldees. It had closed almost a thousand years 
before our ancestors in Western Europe entered the 
records of written history. It contains a unique cre- 
ative period and one which the Chinese people once 
believed marked the climax of their greatness. It has 
been to them for centuries the golden age, the time of 
times when Heaven sent down special revelations to 
men, sages ruled with infallible wisdom, and righteous- 
ness, utmost peace and prosperity prevailed among the 
people of the Celestial Land. 

Three Traditional Emperors. 

The era commences with Fuh-hsi (s. c. 2852), who 
is credited with teaching the people hunting, fishing, 
and the rearing of animals. He also ordained mar- 
riage, organized clans, introduced family names and 
invented stringed musical instruments. The secret of 
his greatness is declared to be found in the revelation 
given through the eight diagrams (concerning which we 
have written in an earlier portion of this work), 
brought to him on the back of a dragon horse rising 


185 


186 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


from the Yellow River. This sage ruler reigned one 
hundred and fourteen years. 

His successor was Shen-lung, the patron of agri- 
culture. He planted the five kinds of grain, and in- 
vented the plough. He also tested all kinds of plants 
for medical use, and opened markets for the inter- 
change of goods. 

Then, after an interval, comes Hwang-ti (a len 
2697), the Yellow Ruler. His works are many. He 
taught the people writing, dyeing, the making of boats, 
and the use of the compass, using the latter to guide 
his soldiers to battle in a dense fog. He cast metal as 
money, yoked cattle and harnessed horses, and had his 
wife teach the people the rearing of silkworms and the 
weaving of garments. He is also said to have mapped 
the country, divided it into provinces and even subdi- 
vided all into sections of nine plots, eight for the 
people and a central one for the government. Works 
on ancient medicine date from his reign, and here we 
have the first record of a temple built for the worship 
of God. Today, however, he is possibly best remem- 
bered as the originator of the sixty-year cycle, accord- 
ing to which the Chinese have reckoned time. Indeed, 
there was an attempt made, at the time of the revolu- 
tion, to have all Chinese reckoning date from his age. 
Seven of China’s Statesmen Sages. 

These three great emperors and their times are, 
however, usually looked upon, even by scholarly 
Chinese, as largely traditional—as an attempt to trace 
the origin of things. It is when we come to the times 
of the great rulers, Yao (8, c, 2356-2255), Shun (Bs. c. 





CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 187 


2255-2205) and Yui (B. c. 2205-2198), that fact super- 
sedes fiction, and Chinese history truly begins. These, 
with such successors as King Tang, first of the Shang 
dynasty, (B. c. 1766-1122) and King Wen, King Wu 
and Duke Chow, founders of the Chow dynasty (B. c. 
1122-255), are the high names in Chinese history and 
the heroes of its golden age. Their words and deeds fill 
the ancient book known as the Shu Chin, or Book of 
History. We cannot interpret better their age than 
by allowing that record to speak for them: 

The Emperor Yao. 

“In reference to the Emperor Yao, it is said, that 
he was exceedingly worthy, pious and intelligent. His 
actions and thoughts were well composed, sincere, 
courteous and yielding. [Thus his family] reflected 
their virtues in equal degree upon all the people of the 
empire, and this extended from his own people to the 
various neighbouring states. [His own son proving 
unworthy] he resigned his throne to Shun, [a poor 
but filial farmer boy] to whom he gave his two 
daughters in marriage.” 

The Emperor Shun. 

“Regarding Shun, it is said, that he was in all re- 
spects an embodiment of the glory of Yao: profoundly 
wise, accomplished, brilliant, adaptable, reverential, 
sincere and righteous, by which modesty and virtue he 
came into recognition, and was appointed to office. 

‘Tn five years he made one inspection of the terri- 
tories, and the host of chiefs had audience on four 
occasions to make report and declaration verbally. 
Shun intelligently examined their merits, and gave 


188 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


carriages and robes to those of distinction. He gave 
orders respecting criminal punishments and _ banish- 
ments, modifying these, and directed that the whip 
should be used for punishing officers, the birch rod for 
students, and regulated fines. Inadvertence and mis- 
fortune he ordered to be forgiven, but that the incor- 
rigible offender should be punished to the extreme. 

“** Be kind to the far-off and utilize those that are 
near,’ he said. ‘Be kind to the virtuous, faithful to 
the just, and eradicate the perverted man. Then even 
the barbarians will lead one another into submission 
to you.’ ” 

History further records of this ancient worthy that 
he had a board hung up before his palace gate upon 
which anyone might inform or memorialize him, and a 
drum which they might beat in appeal for justice. He 


is also said to have instituted triennial examinations — 


for promotion or dismissal. Shun, as did Yao before 
him, considering his son unfit for rule, set him aside 
and chose in his stead as his successor one Yu, having 
the latter well trained and tested before his death. 
The Emperor Vi. 

Yu therefore succeeded Shun, but first waited three 
years to see if the people preferred the latter’s son. 
The following conversation between Shun and Yu 
reveals well the thought of these worthies: 

‘When a prince feels the responsibility of his posi- 
tion,” said the great Yu, “and when a minister is 
affected with the obligation of his office, the govern- 
ment will be just, and the people will be virtuously 
disposed,” 


ee ——— re 


eee ee ee Oe ae 





CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 189 


“Undoubtedly,” replied the Emperor Shun. “In 
fact, if you could carry out this excellent doctrine, 
there would be no merit hidden away in the wilderness 
with neglected worthies, and all districts would be at 
peace. But it is necessary to have regard to all, giving 
up your own objects for the purpose of attending to 
the needs of others, and refraining from the oppression 
of the poor and wretched. Only the Emperor Yao 
could do this.” 

“ Oh, your majesty,” Yii continued, “ take into con- 
sideration that good government consists in nourishing 
the people, and that all virtue is in good government. 
Advance virtue, increase commodities, promote gener- 
ation, and create union.” 

“True,” replied the Emperor. ‘“ The ground being 
tilled, Heaven will complete the work. 

“By punishment you aim at the cessation of pun- 
ishment. The people are brought into accord by 
moderation. 

“The Kingdom being in want and misery, the reve- 
nues come to an end forever. Thereby from the 
mouth may proceed goodwill or the taking up of arms. 

“Only virtue can compel Heaven, and there is no 
distance to which it cannot reach. Fulness is predis- 
posed to reduction, and humility to increase. This is 
the way of Heaven.” 

Of the great Yii it is further related that he hung up 
five different instruments before his palace gate, that 
all might command his attention in case of injustice, 
that during one meal he was ten times interrupted, 
and that while washing he had three times to bundle 


199 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


up his hair in order to relieve the people. One, I-ti, the 
inventor of sweet spirits, was banished because Yiti 
considered drink a danger to coming generations. He 
wept over criminals, and had money cast to redeem 
children sold by their parents for want of food. 

To these praiseworthy and practical sentiments 
might be added those of Yii’s noted minister Yih: 
“‘ Make use of the talented and do not hearken to the 
voice of the traducer: Root out the wicked without 
hesitation. Do not contravene the right in order to’ 
gain the plaudits of the people, and yet do not oppose 
the people in order to indulge your own desires. Be 
neither indifferent nor incapable, and the barbarians 
on all sides will acknowledge your sovereignty.” 

The Tyrant Chie. 

The great Yii, following the example of his prede- 
cessors, is said to have also wished to set aside his son, 
and to appoint this minister Yih as his successor. For 
some reason not fully explained, however, the people 
chose the son, and thus the principle of hereditary gov- 
ernment ensued. For a time all went well, the rulers 
keeping faith with their fathers and their people. But 
in a little more than four hundred years, the court was 
the scene of utter sin and crime. The then reigning 
Emperor Chie was a slave to wine and women. For 
one of his wives he built a chamber of precious stones, 
ivory porticoes, marble terraces, and a jade bed. He 
revelled in luxurious music, mountains of meat, and a 
lake of wine whereon boats moved and three thousand 
persons drank like cattle at the beating of a drum. 
Later he even built a night palace where male and 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 191 


female lived promiscuously. Thus engrossed in vice 
he rarely attended to state affairs, and rebellions arose 
throughout the land. It was inevitable that this (the 
Shia) dynasty should end. 

Emperor Tang of the Shang Dynasty. 

A new dynasty, the Shang (B. c. 1766-1122) was 
ushered in by the Emperor Tang. On his accession 
his minister Chung presented the following apologetic 
for the action of his master in dethroning the tyrant: 

“The ruler of Shia confounded virtue, and the 
people were affected with misery and wretchedness. 
Heaven, therefore, conferred on our King (Tang) the 
courage and wisdom necessary to establish a correct 
standard for the several states, and to continue Yuw’s 
anciently practised regulations, and that because he 
has followed the old established maxims and reverently 
obeyed the decrees of Heaven. 

“Let the King not be too familiar with music and 
women, nor store up wealth and taxes. Let him but 
deal with the people as with himself, and in correcting 
wrongs let him not be sparing. 

“‘T have heard that it is said: ‘He who can find for 
himself an instructor will prevail, but he who accounts 
others as his inferiors will be wiped out. A good bor- 
rower will have much wealth, while the self-user will 
be reduced.” 

King Tang himself, in his announcement, spoke 
thus: 

“‘ Tmperial Supreme Heaven has conferred on these, 
the lower people, the path of moderation, so that they 
have preserved the invariable dictates of Nature. But 


192 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


a ruler is necessary to enable them peacefully to con- 
tinue in the path of righteousness. Do you, my people, 
all be righteous, and I shall not dare to disclaim you. 
Should error rest upon my own person, I shall not pre- 
sume to exonerate myself, but will submit to the judg- 
ment of the Supreme Will.” 

For six hundred and forty-four years this dynasty 
ran its course, with monarchs wicked, worthless or 
worthy according as*they forsook or followed these 
high ideals. One of the worthy we find addressing his 
people as follows: 

‘““Of old my predecessor, King Tang, having toiled 
for your fathers and ancestors, rendered you collec- 
tively my cherished people. But if you have evil 
thoughts in your minds, my predecessors, who com- 
forted your ancestors and your forefathers, and fathers 
themselves, will cut off and reject you, and will not 
redeem you from destruction.” 

Of one of the worthless, we read that an old minister 
of state banished him for three years to mourn and 
meditate at the tomb of his great ancestor Tang, until 
he might learn righteousness. 

Of one of the wicked, it is reported, that he had an 
image made, calling it the Spirit of Heaven. A man 
had at times to personify it playing chess. When los- 
ing, the unfortunate was executed, a bag filled with his 
blood and hung up. Then the Emperor shot arrows at 
it, Saying that he was shooting Heaven. 

The Tyrant Cheo-sin. 

There were days when the kings tvalked not in the 

ways of their fathers, and again the destruction of the 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 193 


dynasty drew near. It came in the days of one Cheo- 
sin. He added to the extravagances and immoralities 
of the last of the Shia dynasty, the utmost cruelties. 
Men were forced to carry red-hot irons, and climb a 
smooth, greased brass column so as to fall into a coal- 
fire underneath. Ministers who remonstrated were 
pickled or ground into mincemeat. Pi-kan, who per- 
sisted in exhortations to good, had his heart cut out 
and examined to see if it had the proverbial Seven 
Openings of the sage. 

The Famous Chow Dynasty. 

The famous Chow Dynasty (1122-255 B. c.) fol- 
lowed. We can give space but to a few sayings of the 
great King Wen, King Wu and Duke Chow, father, son 
and statesman who introduced the new régime. 

“‘My people induced young men to delight in the 
produce of the earth, for their hearts were good,” King 
Wen said. “ They attentively listened to their fathers’ 
abiding instructions, so small and great virtues were 
with these young people one and the same thing. 

“The ancients have a proverb which says: ‘ Men 
should not use water as a mirror, but should take man- 
kind as such.’ ” 

“‘Heaven’s views may be known from our people’s 
views, and Heaven’s decisions from the decision of our 
people.” (Vox populi, vox Det.) 

Chronicles of Duke Chow. 

Duke Chow thus points out a secret of discord: 
“Let our ruler observe that among the lower people, 
the parents strenuously bestir themselves in hus- 
bandry. But their children, not knowing the diffi- 


194 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


culties of such work, indulge in leisure, and after 
acquiring loose language, become dissolute, or despis- 
ers of their parents, saying, ‘ These old folks know not 
what knowledge is.’ 

“The decrees of Heaven are no easy matter, and 
the will of Heaven is difficult to determine.” 

Such are some of the doings and doctrines of those 
early days of China’s history. We have quoted them 
at some length, for they were later to become chief 
among the Sacred Scriptures of her scholars and rulers. 
Did space permit, we should also quote from the Book 
of Poetry, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Change, 
as these also formed the sources from which Con- 
fucius drew his information and ideals. But these 
Books of History quoted probably influenced him 
most profoundly. His influence, in turn, has made 
them mirror a Golden Age. No books of Kings and 
Chronicles have therefore ever borne more weight 
with a nation’s destiny. This was mainly due to the 
work of the great Sage. We turn to trace his history. 
Confucius, the Statesman Sage. 

Kung-fu-tze, that is, the statesman-philosopher 
Kung,: latinized by the early Jesuit missionaries as 
“‘ Confucius,” was born in 551 B. c., in the district of 
Chang-ping (prosperous plain) in the small state of 
Lu, part of what is now modern Shangtung, a province 
of northeastern China. His father, we are told, was 
a military officer, a man of unusual strength and stat- 
ure. Nine daughters are said to have been born to 
him by a first wife and a crippled son by a concubine. 
In advanced years, he still longed for a strong son and 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 195 


heir. Accordingly, when over seventy, he married the 
youngest of three sisters of the Yen family. The new 
alliance was gladdened by the arrival of a boy-baby, 
whom they named Kiu, in consequence of the “ hill- 
like ” protuberance on his forehead. Such, briefly, is 
the birth-story of the future sage. 

A loving tradition has woven many strange tales 
about his mother and his own early days, as has 
been the case with others. We may, with profit, pass 
by these myths for the more wonderful record of his 
real life. Of his youth little is known. His father 
died when he was but three; but his mother seems to 
have given him the best education possible in his day, 
namely, the study of his nation’s history, poetry, 
philosophy and music. Thus “ he grew in stature and 
in wisdom ” under her loving guidance. 

At nineteen he married and the following year a 
little son was born whom they called “ Kung-li,”’ that 
is, ‘‘ Kung the carp,” in honour of a present of such 
fish from the ruler of his native state. 

The Commencement of His Official Career. 

About this period, he engaged in official duties as 
controller of public granaries, probably his first public 
position. It is at this time, also, that we find him sur- 
rounded by a school of young men, who enrolled them- 
selves as his pupils, and fellow students of the words 
and ways of the ancients. This union of study, teach- 
ing, and public service was to be his life work. His 
rise, however, in official rank was not rapid. At fifty, 
he was still but the magistrate of a town. However, 
the foundations of his future successes were well laid. 


196 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


By applying his principles he is said to have wrought 
a marvellous reformation in the manners of the people. » 
The ruler of his native state, Duke Din, raised him to 
the position of Minister of Works, and later to the 
high office of Minister of Justice. 
Reforms His Native State of Lu. 

In this latter position, Confucius’ plan was to 
strengthen his prince, as the centre of power and 
weaken the great families of his domain. Before being 
seven days in office, some traditions say, he had exe- 
cuted one Shao. Thus with a policy learned from the 
ancients of encouraging the good and punishing se- 
verely and speedily the evil, the state of Lu was soon 
reformed. One person, we are told, used to give his 
sheep much water to drink before bringing them to 
market. Another winked at the misconduct of his 
wife. A third was extravagant beyond measure. 
Those who sold cattle and horses held them for high 
prices. All these things were done away with in the 
course of three months, and so great a change in public 
morals was effected that articles dropped on the road 
would not be appropriated. Male and female walked 
separately on the roads—the former aiming at hon- 
esty, the latter at modesty. 

A Wicked Generation. 

But the princes and the people of Confucius’ day 
were indeed “a wicked and adulterous generation.” 
The great Chow Dynasty, which, as we have seen, had 
started forth with such noble names and aims, had 
already run six centuries of its course, and its time of 
decay was at hand. The age was one of feudalism. 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 197 


The central power had gradually drifted away from 
the Emperor, and was vested in the princes of some 
thirteen small states. These latter, in turn, were being 
weakened by the ambitions of great families. It was 
thus an age without authority, an age of endless petty 
wars and struggles, an age when the rights of the 
people were neglected, and humanity became ignorant, 
cruel, brutish and vile. The people were oppressed 
and slaughtered in constant struggles. Sons murdered 
their fathers. Whole families of princes were wiped 
out in revenge. Salome’s sisters appear to have sere- 
naded in all the courts. 

It was but natural, therefore, that the prosperity of 
the state of Lu, where Confucius so successfully ap- 
plied his doctrines, should become an object of fear 
and suspicion. Neighbouring states became jealous, 
and one solved the difficulty in a manner typical of 
the time. The Duke of the state of Tsi, we read, in 
order to divert the mind of the Duke of Lu from seri- 
ous thoughts, sent to the latter a present of eighty of 
the most beauteous damsels of his state, trained to the 
performance of music and dancing, together with one 
hundred and twenty of his finest horses. 

Seduction of His Prince. 

The gift soon bore the desired fruit. The prince 
neglected his public duties, and the advice of his min- 
ister. There seemed no other course than to resign, 
so Confucius, baffled in his efforts for the betterment 
of his native state, left it for more hopeful fields. By 
now he was already somewhat advanced in years, 
being fifty-five, so it was no easy matter to adapt him- 


198 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


self to the times. Indeed, his whole aim was rather to 
adapt the times to his ideals, and that rendered his 
path more thorny still. For the next ten years or more 
he wandered from state to state, almost always hope- 
ful, yet constantly crossed in his purposes. From one 
state, Wei, he was driven by the lewdness of the court. 
In another, Sung, a deliberate attempt was made upon 
his life by felling a tree to destroy him. While on his 
way to a third, Chu, troops of rival and contending 
states captured him, and would possibly have slain 
him, had he not been rescued by other friendly forces. 
Weary, at length, with fruitless wandering, he returned 
in his old age to his native state, to give his remaining 
years to his disciples and literary labours. 

Some Details of His Daily Life. 

_ There are but few of the world’s great reformers of 
whom we have such detail regarding everyday life, as 
we have in the case of Confucius. These have been 
preserved for us by his band of faithful disciples, 
many of whom seem to have remained with him, not 
only during his days of prosperity, but during all the 
years of fruitless wandering. In a book usually called 
The Analects (really a record largely of Confucius’ 
conversations), we have many a sidelight on the life 
of their master furnished by these disciples themselves. 
Its opening sentences run as follows: 

“The Master said, ‘ Study and its constant applica- 
tion, is not such worthy of conversation? To have 
friends coming from afar, is not that joyous? To 
reckon not though men know him not, is not he the 
princely man? ’”’ 


, CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 199 


Even these few lines reveal to us a lover of learning, 
and of his fellowmen, a man of humility and of 
high ideals. 

He was not a rich man, nor was he poor to the verge 
of poverty. We read that he wore a silk cap, furs of 
lamb, fawn and fox skins, also court robes. Then, too, 
he had meat, minced quite small, rice finely cleaned, 
an abundance of wine, and was never without ginger 
when he ate. Yet we learn that he did not eat much, 
and never allowed himself to be confused with wine. 
He was, moreover, generous with what he possessed, 
bearing the expenses of funerals and other cases of 
distress, and knew well how to suffer want. Thus we 
find him declaring: ‘‘ With coarse rice to eat, with 
water to drink and my bended arm for a pillow, I have 
still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and hon- 
ours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a float- 
ing cloud.” 

He did not teach for monetary gain. ‘“ From the 
man bringing his bundle of dried fish for my teaching, 
upwards,” he declared, “‘ I have never refused instruc- 
tion to anyone.” Yet he would not waste time on a 
dullard. ‘I do not open up the truth to one who is 
not eager to get knowledge,” he declared, “nor help 
out anyone who is not anxious to explain himself. 
When I have presented one corner of a subject to any- 
one, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do 
not repeat my lesson.” 

His Love of Learning and Loyalty to Conviction. 

He delighted in study, describing himself as “‘ simply 

a man, who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets 


200 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


his food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his 
sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is 
coming on.” He laid no claim to originality, calling 
himself ‘‘ a transmitter, not a maker, believing in, and 
loving the ancients.”’ He was deeply conscious of his 
own limitations: “In letters I am perhaps equal to 
other men,” was his word, “ but the character of the 
princely man, carrying out in his conduct what he 
professes, is what I have not yet attained to.” 

Yet he was neither weakling nor coward. He felt 
that he had a message for his age. Indeed, he believed 
he was sent by Heaven and was immortal till his time 
was come. In a district called Kwang, we read that 
fear came upon him; but rallying, he cried: “ After 
the death of King Wen, was not the cause of truth 
lodged in me? If Heaven had wished to let this cause 
of truth perish, then I, a future mortal, should not 
have got such a relation to that cause. While Heaven 
does not let the cause of truth perish, what can the 
people of Kwang do to me?”’ And again, under some- 
what similar circumstances, ‘“‘ Heaven produced the 
virtue that is in me. What can Hwan do to me? ” 

His Task as Transmitter. 

The content of his message he found in the ancient 
records, some of which we have quoted. “The Mas- 
ter’s frequent themes of discourse were the Odes, the 
History, and the maintenance of the rules of pro- 
priety.” ‘If some years were added to my life I 
would give fifty to the study of the Book of Changes, 
and then I might come to be without great faults.” 
“There were four things which the Master taught,— 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 201 


letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthfulness.” 
Four of which he would not talk were “ extraordinary 
things, feats of strength, disorderly things, and spiri- 
tual beings.” 

In the retirement of his last years, therefore, Con- 
fucius made selections from the records of the sages 
whom he so loved and honoured, giving us the present 
Book of History. From three thousand ballads and 
other poetry, he chose about three hundred, the present 
Book of Odes, and wrote a commentary on that strange 
combination of mathematics, magic and ethical max- 
ims, The Book of Changes, seeking, as he did in all his 
original writings, to make it also breathe a moral mes- 
sage to his people. Of original writings, he attempted 
but one. It was the record of his native state of Lu, 
which he called Springs and Autumns. The laconic 
style of the title is characteristic of the whole book, 
which simply records without comment the dire doings 
of his country’s recent years. But what “ springs and 
autumns ” they were! They are somewhat dry reading 
for a Westerner today; but, then as now, truth evi- 
dently told its own tale, so that we read this comment 
of his later countrymen, “‘ Confucius completed Springs 
and Autumns and rebellious ministers and bad sons 
were struck with terror.” 

Death of the Sage, B. C. 478. 

While engaged in the composition of this work, news 
came to him of the capture of a strange beast, which 
Confucius at once recognized as a supernatural “ lin.” 
He was profoundly affected, and closed his record with 
the occurrence. He evidently believed completely in 


202 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the strange stories of divine revelations to men of old 
by the River Map and Writing of which we have writ- 
ten formerly, and lamented their non-appearance in 
his day. He therefore took it that the appearance of 
this rare animal was a sign that his own teachings were 
exhausted and his end drawing near. Two years later 
(B. Cc. 478), at the ripe old age of seventy-three, he 
quietly passed to be with his fathers and was interred 
in close proximity to his family residence. 

His Growing Glory Down the Centuries. 

Faithful disciples erected a tomb over their master, 
about which they mourned him for three years—the 
devoted Tse-kung, ’tis said, mourning him for three 
years more. ‘That tomb, it is believed, has existed 
through the centuries and is with us today. What 
honours, surpassing all expectation, history has heaped 
upon the sage son of Han, serenely slumbering there! 
Like another separated from him by but five hundred 
years, ‘“‘ He came unto his own, but his own received 
him not.”’ Since then, his doctrines have held the suc- 
cessive generations of his countrymen willing disciples, 
his teachings have spread beyond the domains of his 
native land and become largely the basis of civilization 
in Korea and Japan, while his name and fame have 
spread far beyond the “ four seas’ and he finds hon- 
our in every land. 

In his own land, influenced by the cult of Ancestor- 
Worship, admirers have not been content with follow- 
ing him as teacher and guide. They have thought to 
give him greater glory by post mortem promotions. 
Thus the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Kao Tsu 


CONFUCIAN SOURCES AND SAGE 203 


(B. Cc. 206), visited his tomb and offered a sacrifice 
before it. Another of the same dynasty, in A. pv. 1, 
raised Confucius to equal rank with the famous Duke 
Chow, whom he so delighted to quote as a model of the 
princely man, and moreover caused a temple to be 
erected in which both were to receive sacrifices. In 
A. D. 739, he was advanced to a position of higher 
sanctity than his model, and in a. p. 1012, another 
Emperor bequeathed upon him the name of ‘“ Most 
Holy.” At length, in our own day, the late Manchu 
régime, hoping to save a tottering dynasty by highly 
honouring national heroes, and so dam the rising tide 
of democracy, changed the tiles upon the sage’s tem- 
ples from red to Imperial yellow, thus raising him to 
an equality with the Son of Heaven. Indeed, under 
' the new republic, a stiff struggle, though unsuccessful, 
to make Confucianism the state religion, shows the 
strength of his cult upon the convictions of China. 


x 
CONFUCIAN DOCTRINE AND DEVELOPMENT 


O attempt to summarize the teachings of Con- 
fucius would be love’s labour lost. Living to 
a ripe old age, he spoke about many things. 
One passage already quoted suggests that there were 
only four things on which he would “not talk,— 
extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and 
spiritual beings.” As an official himself and one of 
the scholar class his paramount aim was to restore 
peace and prosperity to his people. His reformation 
of society and the state, he realized could only be 
effected by the perfecting of the individual, especially 
the rulers, so he preached the ideal of the Princely 
Man. But this, in turn, rested on the moral regener- 
ation of the mind and heart, so he insisted on the great 
virtues of love, righteousness, sincerity, knowledge and 
the power of example. 
Some of the Sage’s Great Words and Texts. 

With one of his most faithful disciples, who wished 
his master’s doctrines in tabloid form, we find the 
. following conversation: 

“Ts there one word which may serve as a rule for 
all one’s life? ” Tse-kung asked. ‘Is not reciprocity 
such a word? ” the Master said. ‘‘ What you do not 
want done to yourself, do not do to others! ” 


204 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 205 


This great word, translated “ reciprocity,” comes 
very near to another great word of the sage, that is 
Propriety. ‘Thus we read in the Doctrine of the Mean, 
one of the Canonical Four Books, these reputed words 
of the Master: ‘The princely man does what is 
proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire 
to go beyond this. . . . He does not murmur against 
Heaven, nor grumble against men.” 

If pressed as to where men should look for models 
and instruction as to the proper thing in its proper 
place, Confucius would point to the great men of old. 
So in another of the Four Books, called The Great 
Learning, we find disciples thus quoting their program 
toward his great ideal of “ the whole empire tranquil 
and happy:”— 

“The ancients who wished to manifest resplendent 
virtue throughout the empire, first ordered well their 
states. Wishing to order well their states, they first 
regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their 
families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing 
to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their 
hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first 
sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be 
sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the 
utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge 
lay in the investigation of things.” 

The Perfect Age. | 

That seems an eminently practical program, and we 
may readily concede its many points of excellence. 
Unfortunately its last phrase, “the investigation of 
things,” which we so heartily endorse today in the 


206 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


study of all branches of science, mental and material, 
meant little more with Confucius, or at any rate his 
later followers, than the investigation of the ancients 
and their presumably infallible customs and concep- 
tions. When, therefore, we find one of his disciples 
asking him regarding this very matter of “ ordering 
well the states” (that is, government), we find the 
following record: 

‘“ Yen-yuen asked how the government of a country 
should be administered? ‘ Follow the divisions of 
time of the Shia Dynasty,’ the Master said. ‘ Ride in 
the state carriages of the Shang Dynasty. Wear the 
ceremonial caps of the Chow Dynasty. Let the music 
be the Shao and its pantomimes. [This music was 
that used by the great Emperor Shun and was so 
entrancing that after hearing it, Confucius, ’tis said, 
did not know the taste of meat for three months. ] 
Banish the songs of Ching, they are licentious.’ ” 
Confucius as Practical Politician. 

Space will not permit us to follow further the teach- 
ings and trend of thought of Confucius. To under- 
stand him and his message, we must recall that he 
lived in an age of wretchedness, wickedness and war; 
that temperamentally he was a lover of music, har- 
mony and peace; that until over fifty years of age he 
was an official busied with practical problems of the 
state; that he believed he had discovered the solution 
to all his nation’s sorrows in the ways and wisdom, 
prose and poetry, of past worthies; and that his teach- 
ings were directed toward, received and transmitted to 
us through disciples who were themselves chiefly con- 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 207 


cerned to know how to secure and succeed in govern- 
ment employment. The thought of the sage was, 
therefore, not primarily concerned with such great 
themes as man’s origin, duty and destiny. He touched 
upon these things only as he considered they bore re- 
lation to the rulers and policy of a state. His chief’ 
aim was, as stated, ‘‘ the whole Empire prosperous and « 
the people at peace.” 

Supported Yet Circumscribed by the Past. 

Believing, as he did, so passionately in the virtual 
infallibility of the past heroes of his history, he ac- 
cepted the teachings of their age as the perfect panacea. 
There is no, ‘“‘ Ye have heard it said by them of olden 
time, but I say unto you—,” in his utterances. He 
believed, therefore, probably as they, in a personal 
God, wise, powerful, just; a Supreme Ruler who had 
regard to the welfare of men, decreed who should be 
their rulers, and dismissed such when they transgressed 
too far his will. He followed also these great fore- 
fathers in some measure in a belief in prayer and wor- 
ship and in the exercise of such virtues as benevolence, 
righteousness, wisdom, propriety, sincerity and faith. 
He also followed them in their mathematical philos- 
ophy of the Yin and Yang, their worship of ancestors, 
their belief in innumerable spirits good and evil, their 
practise of polygamy, divorce and emphasis on por- 
tents and signs. In brief, he followed the past too 
implicitly, so that, in later years, his doctrines, and 
those contained in the books he edited, were accepted 
by his countrymen as a Bible, a Sacred Canon, every 
jot and tittle fixed and final. What our Scriptures were 


208 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


to us in the Middle Ages, these became through long 
centuries to the Middle Kingdom. A beneficial stand- 
ard was thus secured through many a period of storm 
and stress, but the springs of progress became in large 
measure stagnant. 

Early Chinese Critics of Confucianism. 

It is an interesting journey to follow the record down 
the centuries. Needless to say, this system, tending 
ever more to formalism, has not gone unchallenged. 
China has had her heretics who have dared to think 
for themselves, whose souls could not be cribbed, 
cabined and confined within such set moulds. ‘Too 
often, as in other lands, they have pushed their pro- 
tests to extremes, but they none the less did much 
to save the national soul from sterility, and keep the 
flame of freedom burning. We can mention but a few 
examples. 

Lao-tze and Chwang-tze. 

We have already seen, in a former chapter, how 
Lao-tze, the traditional founder of Taoism, in a re- 
puted interview with Confucius, ridiculed the latter’s 
endless rushing about looking for ceremonies of men, 
now corpses for long centuries, and preached his own 
great doctrine of Life without Struggle, following the 
Way of the World. 

Chwang-tze, too, a disciple of Lao-tze, used all his 
wealth of sarcasm against such straight-jacket sys- 
tems, urging that Nature be allowed to have her way. 

“ Horses have hoofs,” he wrote, “ to carry them over 
frost and snow; hair to protect them from wind and 
cold. They eat grass and drink water, and fling up 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 209 


their heels over the fields. Such is the real nature of 
horses. Palatial dwellings are of no use to them. 

‘“‘ One day Po-lo appeared, saying, ‘ I understand the 
management of horses.’ So he branded them, and 
clipped them, and pared their hoofs and put halters 
on them, tying them up by the head and shackling 
them by the feet, and disposing them in stables, with 
the result that two or three in every ten died. Then 
he kept them hungry and thirsty, trotting them and 
galloping them, and grooming and trimming them, with 
the misery of tasseled bridle before and the fear of 
the knotted whip behind, until more than half of the 
remainder succumbed. . . . Nevertheless every age 
extols Po-lo for his skill in managing horses.” 
Mencius, His Great Disciple and Defender. 

Confucianism at its best was, however, finally and 
successfully defended by the great Mencius (Chinese 
Mung-tze, B. C. 372-288). What Paul did in scatter- 
ing afar and saving the teachings of his Master, 
Mencius did for his. He successfully attacks not only 
the theories of the Taoist but of other philosophies, 
and shows the superiority of the Confucian system. 
Here is some of his ridicule upon the theory of Selfish- 
ness as voiced by one Yang and the theory of Universal 
Love as voiced by another, Moh. 

“The principle of the philosopher Yang was, each 
for himself,’ Mencius said. “‘ Though he might have 
benefitted the empire by plucking out a single hair he 
would not have done it.” 

“The philosopher Moh loves all equally. If by rub- 
' bing free of hair his whole body, from the crown to 


210 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the heel, he could have benefitted the empire, he would 
have done it.”” Moh-tze’s teachings, nevertheless, had 
permanent value, being in many ways akin to the 
teachings of Jesus, and after two thousand years are 
coming to their own today, through the investigations 
of Professor Hu Shih and other modern leaders. 

So strenuously, however, in his day did Mencius 
fight the battles of orthodoxy, that his book, a volume 
of over one hundred and fifty pages, though written so 
long after the time of the sage, is included among the 
Four Books, which with the Five Classics go to make 
up the Canon of Confucianism. A sentence from the 
first chapter of his work will show his adherence to the 
high ethical principles of his master: 

The king of Wei said to Mencius, when the latter 
went to visit him, ‘“‘ Venerable sir, since you have not 
counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand 
li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels 
to profit my kingdom? ” 

‘“Mencius replied, ‘Why must your Majesty use 
that word “ profit”? What I am provided with are 
counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these 
are my only topics.’ ” 

Mencius also stood firmly for the other three of the 
“five constant virtues,” “ benevolence, righteousness, 
propriety, knowledge and faith”; and for the “ five 
relations,’ namely, those of prince and minister, father 
and son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, 
and friend with friend. Of all these he considered 
that of filial piety the greatest, and the first duty of 
a filial son to have offspring, thus adding his weight 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 211 


of authority to polygamy and ancestor worship as 
implications. 
Persecution Under the First Emperor. 

About forty years, however, after the times of Men- 
cius, there arose one of the most critical times Con- 
fucianism has ever known. These were the days when 
the great First Emperor (B. c. 249-206) destroyed the 
long struggling feudal states and formed a united 
China. To his shrewd insight and to that of his chief 
advisers, it was not sufficient to overthrow other 
princes. It was also necessary to uproot the hidden 
power of the old order by destroying the teachings. 
Accordingly he commanded that all ancient books, save 
those on medicine, divination and agriculture should 
be burned. Those who wished to study law must en- 
gage his officials as teachers. Those who conversed 
about the Books of Poetry or History were publicly 
executed, while those who even preferred antiquity to 
their own times were exterminated with their families. 
On one occasion, ’tis said, four hundred and sixty 
scholars were thus burned alive. It appeared as 
though the golden age had passed and had forever 
perished. 

Honour Restored by the House of Han. 

The rule of the First Emperor was, however, short-~ 
lived. His son proved too weak to hold what his father 
had won, and the sceptre passed to the great House of 
Han (B. c. 206-A. p. 220). The new régime was in 
complete sympathy with Confucian thought. The new 
ruler paid a visit to the grave of the great sage, old 
books hidden away despite the persecution were 


212 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


brought forth, missing passages were readily restored 
from the memories of living men, and the traditions 
and teachings of antiquity again triumphed. 

But Taoism was by no means dead. During this 
dynasty it also secured some of its greatest triumphs, 
more than one Emperor adopting and propagating its 
precepts. It was during this régime, moreover, that 
Buddhism came to claim a share of sovereignty over 
the spiritual longings of the land. As far back as the 
third century B. c. there are records of Buddhist mis- 
sionaries in China, but now they came on royal invita- 
tion (A. D. 67). 

The Three Religions. 

The teachings of these three great rival schools of 
thought were to run like crimson threads through the 
long record of China’s history. At times, Taoism 
triumphs and Emperors are surrounded with magi- 
cians, send expeditions to find the isles of the genii in 
the east, and drink, and are poisoned by, the potions 
said to be the elixir of life and immortality. At other 
times Buddhism has its day. Emperors array their 
eunuchs as Buddhas, present cartloads of books to 
monasteries and aid in their explanation, send expedi- 
tions to India to search for more sutras and scholars, 
and with great ceremony and reverence receive and 
retain for three days in the royal palace, a Buddha 
bone. 

A Fearless Defender of the Faith. 

But Confucius and his Classics have ever fallen but 
to rise again. The sober thought and patriotic senti- 
ment of the nation seem almost unfailingly to have 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 213 


followed their guide. Brave men constantly came 
forth, daring death in protest against the superstitions 
of the other sects. Thus the famous Han Wen-kung 
declaimed against the bone of Buddha above men- 
tioned (Giles translation, A History of Chinese 
Literature). 

“The bone of a man long since dead and decom- 
posed, is admitted, forsooth within the precincts of 
the Imperial palace. Did not Confucius say, ‘ Revere 
spiritual beings, while maintaining always a due re- 
serve’? . . . Of the officials, not one has raised his 
voice against it. Of the censors, not one has pointed 
out the enormity of such an act. Therefore your 
servant overwhelmed with shame at such slackness, 
now implores your Majesty that the bone may be 
handed over for destruction by fire or water. Should 
the Lord Buddha have power to avenge this insult by 
the infliction of some misfortune, then let the vials of 
his wrath be poured out upon the person of your 
servant, who now calls God to witness that he will not 
repent his oath.” Only the intercession of friends had 
Han’s sentence commuted from death to banishment 
(A. D. 819). 

Chu-fu-ize and Materialism. 

The most dangerous foes of Confucianism were not, 
however, to arise from the Buddhist and Taoist 
churches and rival philosophical schools. They arose 
rather in the interpretations of its friends, and espe- 
cially in the comments of the renowned Chu-fu-tze 
(a. D. 1130-1200) and his professed disciples. The 
trend of thought in the Sung dynasty in which he lived 


214 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


was toward philosophy. They consequently went back 
to the ancient doctrines of the Active and Passive 
(that is, the Yang and Yin) forces in nature and the 
five elements or forms. To these Chu-fu-tze added a 
certain ‘‘ chi” or vital principle, and a “li,” or for- 
mative principle as explanation of all things. With 
these he constructed a thought system capable, accord- 
ing to Professor Bruce, of an idealistic interpretation 
and which might have proved real soul emancipation. 
Alas, if so, in the hands of his later followers and po- 
litical flatterers it became a purely materialistic sys- 
tem, identified the personal God of his fathers with 
the “li” as a mere rational principle, and ended all 
life here and hereafter with the dissolution of the 
“ chi” or breath. 

Chu-fu-tze’s style was attractive. The meaning of 
his terms was not always clear, so was easily misinter- 
preted. The extravagance of the contending creeds 
assisted, and the age was one of rationalism. More- 
over, aS Chu’s comments apparently preached loyalty 
to Imperialism, it was readily emphasized as the true 
and only interpretation, and the standard of ortho- 
doxy. Add to this that the Confucian Classics with 
Chu’s Commentaries have been the text-books for 
centuries in China’s old-style schools, and their con- 
tents the sive qua non of success in public examina- 
tions and promotion to official position, and one can 
easily understand how widely and well they have been 
interwoven in the thought of her classes and masses. 
It is indeed not so much the text, but Chu’s supposed 
interpretation of the text that has held. What Thomas 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 215 


Aquinas has been to Catholicism, Chu-fu-tze has been 
to Confucianism, namely, an infallible interpreter. 
The Masses Unsatisfied. 

Still the human heart in China, as in other lands, 
has refused to be satisfied simply by materialism and 
rationalism. ‘The masses have accordingly been con- 
strained to find refuge in times of trouble in the gods 
of Buddhism and Taoism, and especially in the wor- 
ship of their ancestors. This latter and the Worship 
of Heaven everywhere exists. Men stand in the open 
and worship with incense and prostrations, quote God’s 
justice in proverbs and cry out to Him in prayer when 
in dire need. Belief in immortality is consequently 
almost everywhere a profound reality, and he is poor, 
indeed, who does not when friends depart, call in a 
Buddhist or Taoist priest to pilot them in the land 
of shadows. 

On the great, three-terraced marble altar at Peking, 
at midnight of the shortest day in the year—that is, 
just when the Yin has reached its climax and the Yang 
begins again its sway—the Emperor, as Son and Ap- 
pointee reverently worshipped Heaven, a custom not 
even overthrown by republicanism today, the Presi- 
dent at times performing almost similar functions. In- 
deed, on its religious side Confucianism has much in 
common with the older Taoism it has so often perse- 
cuted. Both go back to a primitive naturalism, and 
drift readily into polytheism. So in Confucianism also 
there are gods who are great forms and forces in 
nature, dead ancestors and heroes. Accordingly, on 
the great Altar of Heaven but a little lower in honour 


216 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


than Heaven itself, are the ancestors of the ruler. 
Just a terrace down and the sun and moon with the 
heavenly constellations and stars are worshipped, and 
in other places the hills and rivers, the earth and 
ocean. Thus, though theoretically atheistic, according 
to its orthodox commentators, the Confucian church 
nevertheless, today worships many gods with Heaven 
as their Head, and the Emperor or President as his 
Son or Representative upon the earth. 

Confucianism Deficient in Morals as Well as Religion. 

Thus, though there is much to be preserved, there 
are also factors to be discarded in Confucian religious 
conceptions of world order. Nor are the weaknesses 
of the system to be found upon the religious side alone. 
Ethically also it sanctions or condones many grave 
sources of sorrow to the individual, society and the 
nation. 

Recent Criticisms. 

From the standpoint of Comparative Religions, 
Prof. R. F. Hume, in The World’s Living Re- 
ligions, offers the following elements of weakness in 
Confucianism: 

1. Its lack of a supreme personal deity accessible to 
all people, instead of to the Emperor alone. 

2. Its actual polytheism, despite its one Supreme 
Ruler. 

3. Its self-saving scheme of salvation. 

4. Its lack of an enthusiastic dynamic, only 
commands. 

5. The inadequate religious basis even for its ethics. 

6. Its negative form of the Golden Rule. 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 217 


7. Its inadequate treatment of the moral evils in 
‘human nature. 

8. Its lack of a programme for real social amelior- 
ation, especially for the uplift of the lower units of 
society. 

9. Its generally inferior position assigned to women. 

10. Its retrospective unprogressive ideal; perfect 
society in the past; no forward-looking creative goal 
ahead. 

11. Its inadequate interpretation and use of phys- 
ical facts. 

Z. K. Zia, M.A., in The Confucian Civilization, 
offers the following shortcomings of his country’s sage: 

That there are shortcomings in Confucianism, we 
all admit. What are they? 

a. Since Confucianism lacks the spiritual element, 
it naturally follows that there is a tendency toward the 
material side. 

b. Though Confucius himself taught his disciples 
not ‘to fight against other sects,’ this injunction has 
not been wholly carried out. This has found expres- 
sion in nationalist and class distinctions. 

c. The critics will all agree in condemning Con- 
fucianism for its conservatism. ‘This is the shortcom- 
ing of Confucianism. 

d. Confucius never denied the existence of God. 
He rather took it for granted. But we must not take 
him for a theologian or a religious giant. . . . If 
only Confucius had known God a little better, the his- 
tory of China would have been wholly different. 

The late Dr. Faber has stated several specific short- 


218 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


comings with a genuine frankness and general fairness. 
In substance they are as follows: 

1. Concubines. “ These have ever been a curse to 
Chinese history. Many intrigues, crimes and wars 
have been caused thereby. The Classics sanction it, 
so Confucianism is responsible for this great social and 
political evil.” 

2. Despotism and Rebellions. 'The Confucian sys- 
tem is a despotism. The Emperor being the appointee 
of Heaven, the only remedy of the people when driven 
to desperation is rebellion. ‘‘ Confucius himself seems 
to have looked with favour on rebellious movements 
with the hope of bringing a sage to the throne. Men- 
cius is certainly very outspoken in this respect.” Pro- 
fessor Legge says, ‘‘ Probably there is no country in 
the world which has drunk so much blood from its 
battles, sieges and massacres as China.” 

3. Ancestor Worship. To speak only of its eco- 
nomic side, ‘‘ The waste of money, land, energy and 
time connected with ancestral worship involves mil- 
lions of Chinese in lifelong debts; in one generation 
at least ten thousand million dollars.” We have above 
pointed out other products of this misinterpretation of 
our obligations to our dead. 

4, Divination. ‘This has its origin in the Book of 
Changes. The use of stalks and the tortoise shell and 
the choosing of lucky days thus sanctioned, have paved 
the way for various superstitions, magic and astrology, 
with disastrous results to time and truth. 

5. Blood Revenge. This is taught as a duty in the 
Classics, disregarding impartial legal authority. ‘“ The 


ae Te 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 219 


bad effects are evident even to the present day. Where 
the ruling authority is feeble, as it is at present, indi- 
viduals and clans take the law into their own hands 
and whole districts are kept in a state of constant feud 
and warfare ” (Legge). 

6. Filial Piety and Nepotism. ‘The virtue of filial 
piety, though often greatly to be praised, has been car- 
ried to an extreme. This may be seen by reading the 
Classic on that subject. A son at sixty is commended 
for frolicking about like a child of six in order to make 
his parents forget they are growing old. Another son 
sleeps under the bed half-naked, that mosquitoes may 
dine on him rather than the heads of the household. 
“The teaching of absolute subordination of sons to 
their fathers and of younger to their elder brothers 
during the whole of life has proved to be a serious ob- 
stacle to progress in China. Nepotism is also a fruit 
of it. Mencius, in trying to defend Emperor Shuen for 
making his wicked half-brother Siang a prince, said: 
“The benevolent man wishes his brother to become 
rich!’ 

7. Presents to Superior Officials. This, “as sanc- 
tioned in the Classics, has led to general official cor- 
ruption.”” Men pay large sums to secure office and 
then expect to repay themselves by selling to under- 
lings or squeezing from the people. Thus even justice 
is bought and sold. 

8. The Want of Truthfulness in Confucius. This 
has had disastrous results on national veracity. ‘“‘ Al- 
though recognizing the importance of truthfulness in 
his theoretical teachings, Confucius in his own practise 


220 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


fell short of the ideal. Professor Legge says that in 
his commentary on the Springs and Autumns, Con- 
fucius ‘ignored, concealed and misrepresented’ the 
truth. On one occasion he broke his oath. He had 
promised on oath not to go to the state of Wei, and 
was released. As soon as free, he went straight to 
Wei. A disciple asked, ‘ May one break an oath?’ 
Confucius answered, ‘It was a forced oath. The 
spirits do not hear such.’ On another occasion he sent 
word to a caller that he was ill. Then he played the 
lute and sang, to show that he did not wish to see this 
would-be visitor.” 

9. Reformation by Mere Example. ‘The mistaken 
notion of Confucianism, that the perfecting of knowl- 
edge and influence of some good examples is sufficient 
to produce a good character, has deceived the Chinese 
about the weakness of human nature.” “The absence 
of a true recognition of man’s responsibility before 
God, and of a deep desire for real communion with 
God, in Confucian teachings, has moulded the national 
character seeking the honour of men more than the 
honour of God.” 

10. The Low Position of Women. ‘The position of 
the mother of sons is indeed a high and honourable 
one in China, but the state of the wife is too much 
that of a chattel, she is quite too subordinate to her 
husband and mother-in-law, and her condition if son- 
less is pitiable. ‘The low position which Confucian- 
ism assigns to the women is alone sufficient to prove 
the inferiority of its teaching in comparison with 
Christianity.” 


DOCTRINES AND DEVELOPMENT 221 


The Classics and the New Republic. 
The new Republic is making out an excellent pro- 


gramme looking to the education of women, and aims 
generally at the betterment of her social status. It 
has also, as a blow against absolutism and other 
abuses, ousted The Classics, as such, from the schools. 
But the shortcomings above outlined are too deeply 
imbedded in national custom and consciousness to be 
easily eradicated. 

Conclusions. 

One concludes a study of Confucianism with 
strangely mingled feelings of admiration and disap- 
pointment. One cannot but admire their golden age, 
however idealized it has become, its great patriarchs 
and princes, their trenchant yet simple sayings, their 
real concern for the welfare of their people, and their 
unwavering confidence in the wisdom and justice of 
high Heaven. One cannot but admire the perhaps 
“‘ over-proper ” yet relatively pure and noble figure of 
the truly great sage, Kung, the stateman-moralist pre- 
eminent of Eastern Asia, his passion for study, his high 
ideals of ‘‘ prosperity in the nation and peace among 
the people,” and of the “ Princely-Man,” his optimism 
in an age of sordid pleasure and pessimism, his indom- 
itable faith in Heaven, in himself, and in human 
altruistic effort, while others were saving themselves 
by fighting, by seclusion or by flight. One cannot but 
admire also the thousands of heroic souls, his disciples, 
who all down the long centuries of China’s history, in- 
spired by the best in those Sacred Records, have come 
forth braving persecution, torture and death, to call 


222 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


back their rulers and countrymen from callousness 
and folly to the high and holy thoughts and ways of 
their forefathers. 

On the other hand, one comes away deeply disap- 
pointed that an interpretation of life so promising 
should purify and perfect itself so little in the process 
of the years. Indeed, it has largely forgotten rather 
than fortified its primitive faith in a personal God, 
increased rather than diminished its exaltation of 
natural phenomena, national heroes and dead ancestors 
and semi-deified in the process of the years even its 
patriarchs and founder. Finally, in recent centuries, 
it has accepted materialism, atheism and the extinction 
of the soul as its best interpretation of the mysteries 
of existence, checked only by the heart longings of the 
masses which cannot be satisfied by such constructions. 
Realizing all this, one understands more readily why 
its old power passed in recent dynasties and the say- 
ings of its sage became a “ Shakespeare ” to be quoted 
at examinations rather than a “ Scripture ” to energize 
the ethics and politics of a great people. 

Yet Confucianism has within it vast promises of 
better things, and we may well pray that Christianity’s 
coming may be “ not to destroy but to fulfil,” together 
redeeming the great race her ancient sage so loved. 


XI 
BUDDHISM IN INDIA 


HE teachings we have been tracing in our 

previous studies have been mainly of native 

Chinese origin. It is well to say, ‘‘ mainly,” 
for thoughts, like things, have often wings, and know 
no bounds of country or even continent. As the 
plants are carried far and wide by birds and winds 
and tides, so the seed thoughts of the thinkers of the 
race seem to wander at will over mountain passes, 
along great trade routes, or across deserts and oceans 
to fall here and there upon good soil, and adapting 
themselves to new conditions, bring forth fruitage 
thirty, sixty, an hundred-fold for weal or woe. In- 
deed, it would seem at times as though it were the 
most abstruse guesses at the riddle of existence that 
grew best and lasted longest, for these evidently allure 
by their very abstraction and lead on and on by their 
mysteries, leading the groper after truth to believe that 
the longed-for goal is surely but slightly on before. 
So it has probably been with some of the thoughts we 
have been following in philosophy, astrology, physi- 
ology, etc., in previous studies. Portions of these 
possibly originated in now unknown regions, from 
there spread far afield, adapting themselves as we say 
to their environment, and doubtless even more to the 


223 


224 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


ability of the thinkers in new lands to understand such 
systems. 
Introduced Into China—When and How? 

With the thoughts we are now about to trace, 
those known as Buddhism, there is no doubt as to 
the origin, at least so far as China is concerned. 
They came from her great and populous neighbour 
to the southwest, India. Nor, if the traditions be 
true, are we left to speculation as to how they came. 
In the year A. Db. 61, what time Paul was pour- 
ing forth his heart in his missionary message to 
Western Asia and Europe, imprisoned, persecuted, 
and, in the end, dying a martyr’s death, a Chinese 
emperor in the far east of Asia had a dream in 
which he saw the image of a foreign god. Eighteen 
messengers were sent many thousand miles over 
desert and desolate mountain ranges, including the 
high Himalayas, in search of books and instructors. 
Reaching India, they persuaded two teachers, at least, 
to return with them. These, riding on white horses 
and carrying pictures, images and books, arrived at 
the Chinese capital six years later, A. p. 67, were quar- 
tered with all honour in the White Horse Temple and 
on the last day of the twelfth month were ushered into 
the presence of the Emperor Ming-ti of the great Han 
dynasty. One of these pioneer apostles, a native of 
Central India, with the strange name Kashiapmadanga, 
proved to be a scholar of ability, translated important 
parts of the Buddhist classics into Chinese, and after 
a life of honour, died at Lo-yang, the then capital of 
his adopted country. 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 225 


The Founder of the Faith—Siddharta. 

To understand these teachings, thus introduced 
among the millions of China, we must first become 
acquainted with the teacher and his times. There are 
few stories of would-be world reformers more replete 
with interest than that of this founder of the Buddhist 
faith. His father was king of the Sakyas, that is the 
Lion tribe, with his capital ninety-three miles northeast 
of the well-known city of Benares. There, in a great 
park at the foot of the far-flung Himalayas, the little 
prince was born, B. c. 560. They called him Gautama, 
also Siddharta, that is “‘ All-Prospering,” and the Brah- 
mans who lived at the court predicted that should he re- 
main in the life of the world, he would become a mighty 
monarch, but that should he renounce that world he 
would become a wholly enlightened-one, that is a 
“Buddha.” At this time a gentle ascetic dressed in 
antelope skin, and who dwelt in a bamboo hut in the 
forest, came forth and, throwing himself at the boy’s 
feet, declared, “‘ Truly this child will become a Buddha, 
and will show mankind the way of salvation.” 

These sayings greatly alarmed the king, who wished 
his son to become his successor and a great world- 
ruler. So he had three palaces built for the prince— 
one for each of the three seasons, the hot, the cold, and 
the rainy. These were surrounded by beautiful parks, 
groves, gardens, caves, grottoes and lovely lakes, and 
here amidst the noble of the land and far from the toil 
and turmoil of the world, the young prince grew to 
manhood. At nineteen, he was married to his beautiful 
cousin, and when after some years a little son was born, 


226 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


there seemed nothing more earth could give to make the 
young prince happy and content. 
The Youth Makes the Great Renunciation. 

But it is one of the signs of the soul’s immortality 
that it is infinite in its longings. The youth longed to 
see beyond the palace walls. At the age of twenty he 
crept forth by stealth and, passing among his people, 
saw sights which filled him with awe and wonder. The 
first, was an old man decrepit with age, the second, a 
sick man covered with sores, the third, a putrefying 
corpse, the fourth, a venerable, begging ascetic. ‘The 
contrast to the gay existence he had led could not but 
compel thought. Grave questionings arose within him. 
Was it, then, the lot of all thus to grow old and feeble? 
Why these sores, sicknesses and suffering? Why this 
revolting end of life in stench and corruption? And 
why, in the midst of all, could this venerable ascetic 
pass to and fro so apparently calm of soul? For nine 
years he pondered upon this strange riddle of birth and 
life and death. Then, one night, unknown to parents, 
wife, child and friends, he left the palace to seek for 
light among the hermits. Coming to a small stream 
near the hills he cut off his long, beautiful hair, gave 
his arms, his horse, his all, to his servant, and charging 
him to tell the king and princess, made the “ Great 
Renunciation.” 

The Thought World of Siddharta’s Day. 

The young Siddharta was not the first of our race 
to ponder these mysteries. Are they not the perpetual 
puzzle of all humanity? Why should we be at all? 
Whence have we come? What are we doing here? 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 227 


Whither are we bound? Nor was he the first of his 
own people who had pondered such profoundly. From 
time immemorial the subtle thinkers of India had asked 
and answered these in various ways. There were cer- 
tain great beliefs upon which the majority seem agreed. 
They may seem strange to us, but they were wide- 
spread in those days. 

First, they believed that the world was formed by 
four great continents, north, south, east and west, with 
India as the southern or Jambu continent. 

Secondly, they believed that somewhere about the 
centre of these four was a great mountain called 
Sumeru, around and about which were situated the 
heavens and their inhabitants. Thus Indra abode in 
the thirty-third heaven upon the very top. In some 
of the eight heavens on each of the four sides, or 
thirty-two in all, lived the godlike Devas, with their 
four famous kings or generals and below these in the 
depths of the great forests lived Asuras, mighty giants 
continually at war with the Devas,—these all of higher 
grade than man. Below man were the animals, then 
pretas, that is hungry ghosts of the dead, and lastly 
narakas, which as demons dwelt in the earth prisons 
below the ground. 

Thirdly, they believed in transmigration, that is that 
these various orders of beings were, after death, reborn 
into the world, in a state either higher or lower than 
their previous existence. 

Fourthly, they believed in Karma, 7. ¢., in a law of 
ethical cause and effect. Every act performed would 
have its effect somewhere, sometime, somehow, upon 


228 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


destiny, and men after death would reap their reward 
for woe or weal in rebirth into some of the higher or 
lower forms of being, that is as devas and asuras, or 
as animals, pretas or narakas, strictly according to 
moral merit. 

Fifthly, they believed that by continuous and special 
merit beings might reach the great goal of union with 
Brahma, the Supreme Spirit, from whom all souls and 
all things proceed. 

Sixthly, they believed that this special merit could 
be best attained as men, by offerings, penances and 
religious ceremonies which could be performed only 
by the active help of priests. 

Thus all this led to dependence upon a priesthood, 
the result of which was almost inevitably an unspiri- 
tual, labyrinthian ritualism, and great power to this 
priestly cult. 

Siddharta’s Search for Peace and Light. 

With this in broad outline as the thought world of 
his generation, the young prince, seeking for a solution 
of life’s mysteries, first turned to two famous pandits. 
They taught him to perform many prayers, sacrifices 
and religious rites, but through these, ’tis said, he failed 
to find peace and light. He then turned to those who 
taught self-mortification, and joined their ranks. 


“ Some walked on sandals spiked, some urth sharp — 
staves 
Gashed breast and brow and thigh, seared them 
with fire.” 


According to the later tradition, Siddharta became 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 229 


among the severest of the sect. He lived daily upon 
one grain of rice and one of hemp, sat on in the same 
position with nothing to protect him from wind and 
rain, his eyes not looking aside, deep in meditation. 
His fame soon spread and five disciples came to him. 
For nearly six years the little company lived on in the 
forest, until one night the leader fainted and fell, and 
his companions thought him dead. 

Siddharta, “ Wholly Enlightened,” Became “ Buddha.” 

Recovering at length he decided that asceticism was 
also a failure. It could not solve his question as to 
sorrow, suffering and death. He decided to eat again. 
Two passing milkmaids gave him food and he was 
strengthened. His five followers seeing this, left him, 
much offended, but he continued his search. One 
morning he bathed in the river, took some rice from 
a young girl, and, again refreshed, spent the whole day 
in meditation by the river’s bank. ‘Towards evening, 
he found his way to a great tree known henceforth as 
the Bodhi, or tree of Enlightenment, for there, after 
continuous meditation for seven days, he became 
““ wholly enlightened,” that is, he became “ Buddha.” 
The New Light That Came. 

What, then, was this new light that came to Sid- 
dharta as to the meaning of life? Briefly this—that 
life as we have it here is not worth living. It is full 
of suffering and sorrow. Birth is sorrow. Old age is 
sorrow. Sickness, death, decay, all are sorrow. And 
what is the secret of all this sorrow? Simply that the 
world we know is all deception. Our eyes, our ears, 
our touch, our taste, our senses all deceive us. There 


230 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


is, in reality, no such world. Even our bodies are a 
delusion. And what is the subtle cause of all this 
deception? In a word, it is desire. Things all are, 
simply because we desire them to be. ‘To get rid of 
this desire, then, and the deception of sense is the 
road to freedom. To follow desire is to be born again 
and again in this world as some form of man, deva, 
animal or demon, through endless ages. ‘To destroy 
desire is to be rid forever of the deception of the 
senses, to be wholly free from the dismal round of 
transmigration, 7. €., attain to that state of complete 
freedom from Karma and rebirth into this world of 
phenomena, which state is called “ Nirvana.” 

The Tathagata or “ Self-Saviour.” 

How to be rid of desire, then, that was the question. 
The Buddha’s contemporaries had put their faith in 
the ceremonies of the priesthood. This he wholly op- 
posed. He required the aid neither of gods nor man. 
Believing fully in the theory of the connection of eth- 
ical cause and effect or ‘‘ Law of Karma,” he concluded 
that every man was the maker of his own destiny. 
Hence he frequently spoke of himself as the Tathagata, 
that is, the “ self-saviour,” or “ one walking as he will.” 
His own solution of the problem of the destruction of 
desire, he speaks of as the Noble Eightfold Path. 
Teachings as Contained in First Sermon. 

Much of this teaching as to the essential sorrow of 
life with its roots in craving or desire, as taught in his 
“Four Noble Truths,” together with his way out 
through the Eightfold Path of self-salvation, are found 
in essence in his first sermon. ‘This was delivered to 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 231 


his former five disciples, whom he sought out once 
more, So we may well let the Enlightened One speak 
for himself: 

“The truth about sorrow is this,” he says. “ Birth 
is attended with pain, and so are decay, disease and 
death. Union with the unpleasant is painful, and 
separation from the pleasant. Any craving that is 
unsatisfied is a condition of sorrow. Now all this 
amounts, in short, to this, that wherever there are the 
conditions of individuality, there are the conditions of 
sorrow. 

“The cause of sorrow is the thirst or craving which 
causes the renewal of individual existence and is ac- 
companied by evil, and is ever seeking satisfaction, 
now here, now there; that is to say, the craving either 
for sensual gratification or for continual existence, or 
for the cessation of existence. This is the Noble Truth 
concerning the origin of sorrow. 

“‘ Deliverance from sorrow is the complete destruc- 
tion, the laying aside, the getting rid of, the being free 
from, the harbouring no longer of this passionate crav- 
ing. This is the Noble Truth concerning the destruc- 
tion of sorrow. 

The Eight-Fold Path. 

“But the Tathagata has discovered a path which 
opens the eyes and bestows understanding, which leads 
to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlight- 
enment, in a word to Nirvana. The path which leads 
to the destruction of sorrow is the Noble Eightfold 
Path alone, namely, right views, high aims, kindly 
speech, upright conduct, a harmless livelihood, perse- 


232 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


verance in well-doing, intellectual activity and pro- 
found meditation. This is the Noble Truth of the 
Path which leads to the destruction of sorrow.” 

The Eightfold Path is not unworthy of the name 
“ Noble,” were it not for the “ right views ” and “ high 
aims ” which the Tathagata held. The former, it is 
clear, considered life as lived here a deception and 
sorrow, and so is utterly pessimistic as to reforming 
this world and making here a Kingdom of God. The 
latter aims at abstraction from the world of sense, 
annihilation of such desire and even individuality, and 
absorption into that strange state of presumed peace, 
more logically utter emptiness, named Nirvana. To 
travel this path each needs quite evidently the aid 
neither of priests nor gods, only the guide-books of the 
Buddha, and his own effort. 

Early Missionary Efforts of Buddhism. 

But there were many world-weary ones in those 
days, as in all ages, worn out by the lusts and strife of 
life, or by the mummery of religious ritualism, and 
asceticism. Naturally they turned in large numbers 
to this new and seemingly simple way of escape from 
the tortuous labyrinths of transmigration. First, his 
five disciples are said to have accepted the new teach- 
ings, and then it had a rapid growth all along the valley 
of the great Ganges. As soon as the number of con- 
verts reached sixty, they were sent forth to proclaim 
the Way or, as it is frequently called, the Law. Speak- 
ing to the crowds in the simple speech of the common 
people they seem to have been enthusiastically wel- 
comed even by kings, who set apart groves for their 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 233 


use. Hither they assembled in the rainy season for 
further instruction, and thus was founded the monas- 
ticism which has since become so marked a feature of 
the system. In the dry season they went forth, as 
they termed it, to “ turn the Wheel of the Law,” a fig- 
ure taken from the mill wheel as men grind their grain. 
That is, they first stated the law or their text, then 
explained its meaning, and finally applied it to the 
experience of their audience for assimilation. Their 
clothing was of the simplest. For food they went about 
with alms-bowls begging from the people. 

Buddha’s Death about B. C. 480. 

Many remaining years of life were still given the 
Tathagata to develop his teachings. Then, at the ripe 
old age of eighty, about B. c. 480, he died, or, as he 
would have it, reached Pari-Nirvana. Many thousands 
of lay followers, men and women, as well as his Beg- 
ging Brotherhood, mourned his departure. His re- 
mains were encoffined and after many reputed miracles, 
finally cremated. Thus passed from earth another 
apparently absolutely sincere yet sadly misguided 
seeker after truth. That his system of self-salvation 
saved many from the hopelessness of the Hinduism of 
his day, and has done much to spread sentiments of 
equality and mercy and at times a certain emphasis 
upon personal purity and spirituality may well be con- 
ceded. But, alas, at its very base was a false inter- 
pretation of the world we live in, and so of the life to 
be lived. Its efforts after abstraction and absorption 
could not be a basis of self-salvation, but of self- 
deception and could not but end in decay. 


234 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Royal Missionaries Sent to Ceylon. 

For a time after his death the teachings of the 
Buddha seem to have remained comparatively pure. 
As in other systems, great councils tried to control its 
organization and orthodoxy. But circumstances and 
men’s capacities change, so that after a couple of cen- 
turies there was considerable divergence of views and 
practice. Then there arose a king who was to Bud- 
dhism somewhat what Constantine was to Christianity, 
a convert and an enthusiast with power. His name 
was Asoka, the grandson of a celebrated adventurer in 
the camp of Alexander the Great, and who later drove 
the Greeks from India. This Asoka, often termed the 
Wheel-King in that he caused “ the Wheel of the Law ” 
everywhere to revolve, called a great council about 
250 B. c., which was attended by five hundred vener- 
able Buddhist saints or “ Arhans.” Among these 
Ananda, that is “ Joy,” a cousin of the Buddha and 
who is said to have become a disciple at the age of 
eight, is reputed to have been present and to have by 
his marvellous memory aided much in fixing the canon. 
Be that as it may, it certainly seems to have been a 
great missionary gathering. The King sent his own 
son and daughter as missionaries to Ceylon, where a 
sacred Bo-tree planted by the latter is reported to be 
still standing. Others went forth in force to spread 
the teachings far to the north and west. 


Differences Between Northern and Southern Schools. 
In its travels southward, Buddhism seems to have 

met with little but primitive paganism, and so has re- 

tained much of its original teachings. Not so in its 


BUDDHISM IN INDIA 235 


sweep to the north and west. There it met with the 
philosophies and religions of ancient Asia as found in 
Persia, the Euphrates valley and even Greek culture. 
Indeed, as one follows some of the literature and its 
development during the years of the first century A. D., 
developing as they do theism out of atheism, world 
saviours out of a system of self-salvation, prayer in 
place of the power of abstraction and worship instead 
of absorption, one cannot but feel that Christianity 
or some similar source has exerted its influence. 
The Northern or Great Vehicle. ) 
Thus two distinctive systems have arisen. The 
southern is usually spoken of as the Little Vehicle or 
Hinayana, and the Northern as the Great Vehicle or 
Mahayana. The figure of speech implied is that of 
voyagers over the great sea of transmigration. The 
little vehicle is strict and narrow; the great vehicle is 
presumably comprehensive and perfect. Alas, in seek- 
ing to become broad, it has, as we shall see, spread itself 
out so thin in airy flights of imagination into time and 
space, etc., that it has become, today, in many phases 
of its thought-life little more than shallow, superficial 
fancy. Let us note more fully some of this develop- 
ment in the Northern School, for it has been this sys- 
tem which has chiefly influenced the millions of China. 


XIT 
BUDDHISM IN CHINA 


E have next to examine the type of Buddhism 
that came to China and trace its effects upon 
this ancient civilization. We have seen that 

the Tathagata himself thought that he had only to 
deny the things of sense and desire in order to destroy 
them. ‘The other side of such a theory would, natu- 
rally, seem to be that you have only to think things 
true to bring them really into being. Imagination, like 
any other cause, could and should become a real cre- 
ator. Whether or not the originators of the Greater 
Vehicle system reasoned thus it is now impossible to 
say. It is more probable that, subtle psychologists as 
some of them were, they disbelieved in everything that 
had form or space, but believed that to popularize their 
theories, the best way possible was to appeal to soul 
abstractions under the guise of far-flung and high- 
sounding systems of fanciful worlds and saviours. 

A Universe of Unlimited Time. 

They taught, therefore, a universe of unbounded 
time. It was apparently without beginning, for their 
system knew no Creator. This unlimited time was 
divided into great kalpas, and each great kalpa into 
eighty small kalpas. The length of a small kalpa is 
left to the imagination, but may be judged by the fact 


236 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 237 


that during a small kalpa the age of man diminishes 
from immeasurable length to ten years and then in- 
creases again to eighty thousand years. ‘The great 
kalpas mark the rise and fall of a world era. Thus, 
during twenty small kalpas, the world is completed. 
During the second twenty it remains in this state. 
During the third twenty it is destroyed, while during 
the fourth twenty there remains nothing but void. 
Then the process begins again and another great kalpa 
is ushered in. We live in the ninth of the second series 
of twenty small kalpas. It is flattering to know that it 
is the “age of wise men.” In the time of Buddha the 
age of man had already increased to one hundred years 
and since then the allotment has been gradually les- 
sening a year at a time. 

The World of Unbounded Space. 

The world of space is, if possible, even more wildly 
wonderful than that of time. In the centre of our 
particular world, called Saha, is the famous Sumeru 
mountain. A wide sea separates this from eight other 
mountains at the eight points of the compass from us. 
Outside these eight mountains is another wide sea and 
beyond it a great circular mountain mass of iron. A 
thousand such, with their circular mountain chains of 
iron constitute a small world and three thousand a 
great world. The Saha world is such a great world. 
Outside ours are ten other great worlds at the eight 
points of the compass and above and below. So the 
universe is multiplied. Details of our own world tell 
that from the southern Jambu continent in which we 
live, across the great ocean to the encircling iron moun- 


238 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


tain wall the distance is three hundred and sixty thou- 
sand, six hundred and sixty-three yojanas, each yojana 
being from four to eight goshalas, and a goshala being 
the distance at which the bellowing of a bull can 
be heard. 

Heavens and Hells of Wonderful Complexity. 

Such an indefinite extension of space has also natu- 
rally greatly extended the ancient hells and heavens 
of the Hindus. The latter are still situated, as of old, 
about and above the famous Sumeru mountain, and 
the former below, but are greatly multiplied and 
allegorized. ‘The mountain stands in the centre of the 
four continents, is far to the north of ours, and is one 
million one hundred and twenty thousand miles high, 
its depth in the sea being equally great. Up its sides 
are the thirty-two heavens, now divided as follows: 
The first ten from the base are called worlds of Desire. 
Here dwell the sun and moon, the powerful kings of 
Devas with their followers and their super-sovereign 
Indra. Here is also the Tushita paradise, and that of 
Yama, ruler of Hades, as well as many others. About 
the very base are various forms of dragons and lower 
grades of spirits. 

The next tier up of these heavenly regions consists 
of eighteen. They are called the Heavens of Form. 
This denotes that the senses are still active here, 
though there is freedom from desire which was still 
dominant in the ten regions below. These eighteen 
are again subdivided into groups of three accord- 
ing to contemplation and are called by such titles 
as purity, light, virtue, abstraction and _ tranquil- 





BUDDHISM IN CHINA 239 


lity. The Brahmas live in some of the lower 
stages, a left-handed compliment to the popular re- 
ligion of the day in India, which Buddhism sought 
to supersede. 

The uppermost tier of four, completing the thirty- 
two, is called the Formless Heaven. They are desig- 
nated by such titles as vacancy, knowledge, destitution 
of properties and negation of thought. Here dwell the 
highest transformations of Buddhism. 

The Thirty-two Heavens. 

Many further details of the inhabitants of these 
thirty-two heavens are given. Men after death, ac- 
cording to their advancement, live in all, but five are 
inhabited by sages alone, twenty-five by sages and 
common men together and two by common men. No 
wise man, we are told, will inhabit the heaven of 
Brahma, because he, in his ignorance of causes, asserts 
that he can create heaven, earth and all things. Mara, 
king of the demons, called in Chinese Mo-Kwei, and 
used in Christian Scripture translations for ‘“ the 
devil,” resides in the space below the Brahma’s heaven. 
The Arhans or Buddhist saints naturally reside in the 
higher heavens, while those shortly to become Buddha, 
that is Bodhisatva, Chinese “ pu-sa,” reside first in 
the Tushita heaven. Finally, high above all, live the 
Buddha and his special associates. 

Location of Hells. 

As to the hells or prisons of the lost, they are 
usually situated far below the mountain, upon the 
continents inhabited by man or among the great 
oceans, Thus 280,000 miles below our Jambu conti- 


240 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


nent is the hell of unintermitted torments. Others are 
at different points of the compass and usually located 
at the bottom of some great ocean. Details of these 
as they are believed in today have been given in a 
former study, so we need give no further description 
here. It is well to recall, however, that the seed 
thought for such a system came to China through this 
northern development of Buddhism. 
Buddha Exalted from a Teacher to a God. 
Contemporaneous with this extension of the uni- 
verse in time and space through contact with other 
thought-systems, came a great exaltation of the Bud- 
dha. He was, from a simple teacher and attainer to 
the Way, exalted to be a god absolute, saviour and 
ruler of the great Saha world we have described with 
all its innumerable inhabitants of devas, asuras, men, 
animals, shades and demons. Other Buddhas were 
naturally added to rule other great worlds, but the 
Buddha was supreme in this. The extension of time 
in turn led to fables of other Buddhas who had pre- 
ceded him in former kalpas. During the eighth small 
kalpa immediately preceding ours, we are assured, no 
less than one hundred Buddhas successively appeared. 
He himself is the fourth Buddha of this small kalpa. 
Just before him is one called, in Chinese, Jan-ten Foh, 
that is, the “ Light-Lamp ” Buddha. 
Mi-let Foh, the Merciful, “ The Laughing Buddha.” 
Of more interest and importance than these, on 
account of their influence upon popular imagination 
and human longings are two other fictitious Buddhas. 
The first is the Buddha-that-is-to-be, named by Occi- 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 241 


dentals, on account of his big, benign appearance, 
“The Laughing Buddha.” He is Maitreya, “the 
Merciful,” called in Chinese Mi-lei Foh. At present 
he is reported to be in the Tushita paradise. ‘The 
Buddha visited him there and told him his destiny. 
On this occasion Maitreya also reminded Buddha of 
the latter’s wonderful life of service in the following 
rather striking fashion: “‘ The wonderful result is to 
men incredible. It is as if a man of beautiful counte- 
nance and black hair, about twenty-five years of age, 
should say, pointing to an old man of a hundred, ‘ This 
is my son’; and the old man should point to the young 
man and say, ‘ This is my father.’” This Laughing 
Buddha will appear five thousand years after the his- 
toric Buddha’s time and will usher in a new era. Tra- 
dition says he will be sixty feet high. Fortunately, 
however, for the image-makers, others have given in 
later days another conception. They also have visited 
Mi-lei in his present home, and so he is now usually 
represented in the temples as a rather short, very 
stout, jolly-looking Chinese, sitting wreathed in smiles 
and with but little else over his broad breast and 
abdomen. 

The O-mi-to Foh, the Buddha of Boundless Age. 

The other imaginary Buddha is the ruler of the 
Western Heaven, described in a former study. He is 
Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of ‘‘ Boundless Age.” 
In Chinese his name and fame as O-mi-to Foh, is 
known to all. At times he is also pictured as ‘“‘ Chie- 
yin” when, with hand outstretched, he “ welcomes ” 
mortals to his allegorical paradise. Ten million King- 


242 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


doms of Buddha, ’tis said, separate his world from 
ours. As he with his Western Heaven is the most 
tangible hope of the craving for immortality of mil- 
lions, there are few who receive more homage. 

Yoh-shi Foh, the Buddha Who Heals. 

Do not conclude, however, that these comprise all 
the Buddhas. Another whose heaven is equally distant 
from the East must also be mentioned. He is in 
Chinese Yoh-shi Foh, that is, the Buddha who in- 
structs in Healing. He, therefore, removes bodily and 
mental calamities, and lengthens the earthly lives of 
his supplicants. He is, however, and significantly, 
much less popular than his great contemporary of the 
Western Heaven. 

The Creation of Fictitious Bodhisatvas. 

Possibly even more important in its influence than 
these developments we have been following, namely, 
these extensions in space and time, the development of 
theism out of atheism, and of immortality out of ab- 
sorption or annihilation, was the voicing of another 
cry of the human soul for infallible guides or Saviours. 
This was in turn supplied by the creation of fictitious 
Bodhisatvas, or, as they are callyed in Chinese, 
Pu-sas. They are, as has been aptly said, “ heirs- 
apparent ” to Buddahood or Enlightenment. They 
have not yet but are about to enter upon Nirvana. 
Moved to compassion, ’tis said, by the misery of the 
world, these have refused to enter Nirvana until they 
have saved countless myriads of beings from distress. 
This new thought may, perhaps, be best explained by 
telling simply the story of three or four of the most 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 243 


widely-known and worshipped of these Pu-sas, sav- 
iours or deliverers. 
Widely-known Pu-sas, Wen-shu. 

The Bodhisatva Manjusiri, or, as he is called in 
Chinese, Wen-shu Pu-sa, is the embodiment of Wis- 
dom. ‘This is symbolized by a sword carried in his 
right hand, showing perchance the keenness of his in- 
tellect in dividing the true from the false. He also 
rides upon a lion to show his triumph. He is repre- 
sented as receiving instructions from the Buddha, and 
then setting out toward central and south India, where 
thousands flocked to him for instruction. He is thus 
a great saviour of the ignorant and deluded. 

Pu-hsten, 

The Bodhisatva, called in Sanscrit by the long 
name Samantabhadra, is better known in China as 
Pu-hsien. He is the embodiment of Happiness. He, 
too, has vowed to save millions of men before entering 
into Nirvana. He recommends all to withdraw their 
thoughts from the world of sensation. Like other 
Pu-sas, he wears a gilded crown of Lotus leaf. He 
rides upon an elephant, indicative of caution, dignity 
and strength. He also has many admirers. 

T1-T sang. 

A third noted Bodhisatva is she (or he) known 
in China as Ti-tsang. A whole book is devoted to her 
marvels. The story, briefly told, is of a maiden whose 
mother slandered the three treasures, that is, Buddha, 
the Law and the Priesthood. After death she was sent 
to the limitless hell. Her daughter, grieving over her 
mother’s wicked life and inevitable fate, sought the aid 


244 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


of an ancient Buddha image. She was told to sit at 
home and meditate on his name. Doing so, she fell 
one day into a state of deep reverie and soon found 
herself on the banks of a great ocean. Here she saw 
many beasts of prey with iron bodies, flying and walk- 
ing on the sea. Multitudes of unhappy men and 
women were swimming there and were bitten con- 
stantly by these ferocious animals. 

A demon king addressed her kindly, informing her 
that she had come to the great, iron-mountain girdle 
that surrounds the world. The people, she saw, were 
the inhabitants of our continent the Jambu, who had 
recently died. If, after forty-five days, no one per- 
formed any meritorious act for their benefit, they must 
be transported to this sea. On further inquiry as to 
the fate of her mother, she was rejoiced to hear that, 
owing to her, the daughter’s piety toward the ancient 
Buddha, the mother had been saved and was already 
in Paradise. Indeed, such merit was sufficient, in addi- 
tion, to raise innumerable other persons to heaven. 
Returning to consciousness, the maid made a vow that, 
through innumerable coming kalpas, she would per- 
form acts of merit for the deliverance from suffering 
of multitudes of living beings. She (or he, for this 
Pu-sa is also at times represented as a son of a king 
of Siam) is thus a deliverer from the terrors of Hades, 
and is often represented sitting with benign counte- 
nance, while around are clustered the ten kings of 
hell listening to her instruction. She saves men from 
these bitter seas and earth prisons with their many 
punishments, 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 245 


Kwan-yin, “ Goddess of Mercy.” 

Most noted of all these deliverers is Kwan-yin, 
familiarly spoken of among Westerners as the ‘‘ God- 
dess of Mercy.” Her power is almost unlimited, for 
she can transform herself into all conceivable forms, 
and so can save not only men, but devas, animals and 
other races of beings. She is, therefore, frequently 
depicted with a thousand arms stretched forth to save. 
She especially rescues men from the “ eight miseries ” 
and may be seen saving sailors at sea, travellers from 
wild animals, robbers, etc. Perhaps her most popular 
form is with a child in her arms, as she comes forth to 
aid unhappy mothers. This latter has led some to 
identify her with the Virgin Mary, but the idea is 
radically different. Here again, though this saviour is 
frequently called “ she,” the older form was doubtless 
male. As there seems no limit to her transformations 
and powers, she is naturally among the most widely 
supplicated and worshipped. 

The Mahayana School in China. 

It has taken considerable space to state this devel- 
opment of the Northern Buddhist school, even in out- 
line. But it is of paramount importance, for it was 
this system of thought which the two teachers from 
India, who arrived in China in the middle of the first 
century A. D., came to teach. It was the books of this 
system which they and most of those who came after 
them translated into Chinese, and so its temples and 
forms of worship which were set up. Despite an 
Emperor’s welcome, there was opposition, and it took 
centuries to cover the new land with temples. But 


246 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


eventually thousands of priests, from among the men 
and also women took the vows, and Buddhist ideas 
have flooded the thought-life of the people. 

Idolatry Related to Allegory. 

As stated previously, very probably these subtle 
Hindu teachers of the first and second centuries 
B. C., who inaugurated this Mahayana or “ Great 
Vehicle” system, disbelieved in much of this imagi- 
nary extension of time, space, exaltation of Buddha 
and fanciful deliverers. As we at times set up statues 
of liberty or justice to impress imperishable ideals, so 
they probably thought by means of images to lead men 
to seek after destruction of desire, denial of sensation, 
and their peculiar ideas of wisdom, mercy, emptiness, 
happiness and Nirvana. But the ignorance, or per- 
haps one should more truly say the infinite longings 
within the souls of men, could not be satisfied with 
these allegorical interpretations. Denied powers be- 
yond their own, they proceeded to deify all these 
images, till today the atheism of the Tathagata has 
become a form of polytheism, with gods innumerable 
and still growing, for anyone by merit may become 
successively a listener, an understander of causes, a 
saviour and then a Buddha. 

Each Pu-sa Has His Own Chief Seat. 

The whole system, with many modifications, has 
been adopted in China. The four great deliverers 
have, in addition to having their images everywhere, 
each been given as the years have passed special sta- 
tions in this land. Thus Wen-Shu, the wise, has his 
chief seat at Wu Tai mountain in the province of 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 247 


Shan-si. Ti-tsang has made a temple in An-hwei, 
some miles west of Nanking, his home. Kwan-yin 
lives at Pu-to Island, near Canton, and Pu-hsien has 
headquarters here in our own province of Szechwan 
on the famous Mount Omei. Visiting there one sum- 
mer we were told that Pu-hsien had appeared that 
same season. On inquiry as to the evidence, we were 
told that he had ascended the mountain among the 
train of pilgrims, visited the many temples, and then 
reaching the Golden Summit had thrown himself over 
the great sheer precipice. On looking for the body 
the searchers below could find no trace,—was not that 
proof sufficient? 

Each Idol His Own Place in the Temple. 

The masses of the people, therefore, look upon these 
abstractions, some of which are associated with semi- 
historical persons, as absolute powers, and visit the 
temples for heavenly help, much as they go to their 
magistrates for earthly aid. By the door-way, as they 
enter, stand two great generals of the devas, ‘‘ Hen ” 
and “ Ha,” with arms uplifted and fearsome mien to 
terrify unworthy intruders. Next follow many de- 
fenders of the Buddha and his teachings, notably the 
four kings of the devas, Kwan-ti, the Chinese god of 
war, the Dragon King and others. In the next court 
are probably three or four deliverers, Wen-shu, Pu- 
hsien and Kwan-yin, with their promises of wisdom, 
happiness and mercy. Another court farther up brings 
the supplicant to the hall of the Great Hero, that is 
Buddha himself. He is usually called in China Shih- 
Kia-Mo-Ni, that is Sakyamuni, the Sage of the Sakya 


248 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


race. There he sits in the serenity of self-salvation, 
teaching all beings the Law. Men are represented by 
his youthful cousin Ananda (in Chinese O-lan) and 
the aged Kashiapa (Chinese Kia-shie), his successors 
in the patriarchate, who stand to hear his instruction. 
Eighteen saints, Lo-hans, with special miraculous 
powers over nature, and above them rows of devas 
(Chu-Tien in Chinese), sit listening attentively. In 
a still higher court sits usually the smaller image of 
Mi-lei Foh, that is “The Laughing Buddha,” the 
Buddha-that-is-to-be, and higher still O-mi-to Foh, the 
Buddha of Boundless Age, welcoming the wanderers 
to his wondrous Western Heaven. Worshippers, save 
on the special feast and birthdays of the images, are 
comparatively few, but the big temples contain often 
one or two or even three hundred priests, who spend 
the long day in lighting candles, ringing bells, beating 
the wooden fish, reciting their translations or trans- 
literations of the sutras, marching in ceremonial pro- 
cession, or loafing about lazily, awaiting a call forth 
to some funeral, too often conjuring up plans to im- 
pose lucrative alarms upon the credulous. 
Extravagant Promises to Worshippers. 

Most extravagant promises are made to those who 
call upon the names of these Buddhas and Deliverers. 
Thus we read in the Lotus Scripture that: “If many 
merchants sailing the ocean meet with a typhoon, and 
even a single one on the ship call upon the name of 
Kwan-yin, the “ Goddess of Mercy,” all on board will 
be delivered from danger. If a man should be about 
to suffer hurt and call upon Kwan-yin, the sword or 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 249 


spear of his enemy will at once break in pieces. If a 
man hallows Kwan-yin’s name but once and worships 
Kwan-yin, the blessings of the two are equal, and 
cannot end for millions of years.” 

So to those who worship Ti-tsang, Buddha himself 
is said to promise that, “ If any good man or woman 
will worship Ti-tsang, repeat his name, make an offer- 
ing to him, or draw his picture, such a person will 
certainly be born in the thirty-third heaven.” Again, 
it is promised that, “ If a woman with an ugly counte- 
nance and sickly constitution prays to Ti-tsang, she 
will, for a million kalpas, be born with a beautiful 
countenance.” Is it to be wondered at, in view of 
these extravagant hopes, that deluded priests pass 
around and around the altars simply repeating over 
and over again the name of O-mi-to Foh, or some other 
idol, that pilgrims repeat it from step to step as they 
climb the long mountain paths or that the Tibetans 
have systematized it all thoroughly and flutter their 
prayers from flags mechanically in the breeze, or bet- 
ter still, fill great churn-like cylinders with their pray- 
ers and set them turning by water power along the 
little mountain streams? Perhaps it is even less to 
be wondered at that these very extravagances have 
estranged the thoughtful people of the land. Some 
scholars here and there are enamoured by the subtle- 
ties of the old Hindoo philosophers, their psychological 
speculations and the beauty of the style of the trans- 
lations, but outside the priesthood in China today the 
majority of the followers are old women and the 
simple-minded of the masses. 


250 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Charms, Formule, Relics. 

In addition to idol worship and these mere mechan- 
ical, vain repetitions in prayer, many other corruptions 
crept into the system as it developed both in India and 
here in China. Among these may be mentioned magic 
formule and charms made from old Sanscrit char- 
acters, meaningless in their original but mystic enough 
to deceive the multitude. By means of these many 
claimed the réle of healers of disease, rain-makers and 
foretellers of events. The chief mover in this develop- 
ment seems to have been a monk Amogha from Ceylon, 
and thus related to the Hinayana or Little Vehicle that 
branch of Buddhism that developed in the south of 
India. He is called in Chinese Pu-kung, that is “ not 
empty,” and occupied a chief place at court during his 
day. It was he who, about the year 768, introduced 
the custom now so common of feeding the hungry 
ghosts each fifteenth of the seventh moon and at 
funerals. In this a magical arrangement of the fingers 
as well as delineations of Sanscrit characters and read- 
ing of special books play a prominent part. 

Relics in various forms also become religiously 
powerful. The teeth, the dust, parts of the clothing, 
or bones, or former rice bowls of Buddha and other 
Bodhisatvas were especially potent. a-hsien, an 
ardent Chinese Buddhist, made a visit of almost fifteen 
years to India about the year 400 a. p., and found this 
worship of relics in full swing there. In one place a 
bone from Buddha’s skull was covered with five 
precious substances and zealously guarded by eight 
officers of the king. In other places topes were erected 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 251 


on the sites of Buddha’s footprints, the place where he 
dried his clothes and even where he cut his hair and 
nails. This later spread to China, and we find even 
Emperors going forth to meet parts of bones carried 
in great state to their capitals. It was also the begin- 
ning of the pagodas which still so picturesquely dot 
the land. Built first to house or honour these sacred 
relics, they later came to be looked upon, coupled with 
the subversive genius of geomancy, as means of regu- 
lating the literary and other luck of the land, and were 
built in great numbers, beginning chiefly with the Tang 
dynasty (approximately 600-900 a. p.). Relics are 
less prominent now, but still an occasional one is dis- 
played, as at Omei, where a great tooth, purporting to 
be one of Buddha’s presumably innumerable molars, is 
displayed. From its size it may be the tooth of an 
elephant or some other large animal. 

Hinayana Influence. 

Other interpretations of Sakyamuni’s teachings than 
those of the regular northern school have also come 
to China. These are even more intimately related 
to the Hinayana. Prominent among these new teach- 
ers was no less a personage than the twenty-eighth 
patriarch or pope of Buddhism, who _ personally 
came to China about a. p. 520. He is called Bodhi- 
dharma, or in Chinese Ta-mo, and came by way of 
Canton and the south. He disbelieved in all outward 
forms and images, even in the use of sacred books, and 
taught the abstraction of the mind from all objects of 
sense and its own thoughts. In this the smaller ve- 
hicle of the south held closer to Buddha’s Law. This 


252 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


is clearly shown in a conversation between Ta-mo and 
the Liang Emperor (compare Dr. Edkin’s Chinese 
Buddhism). The latter spoke of having built temples, 
transcribed books and admitted new monks to take 
vows incessantly and asked: “‘ How much merit may I 
be supposed to have accumulated? ” 

The reply was, “ None.” 

“Then what is true merit? ” asked the Emperor. 

“‘ It consists in purity and enlightenment, depth and 
completeness, and in being wrapped in thought while 
being surrounded by vacancy and stillness,” was the 
reply. ‘“‘ Merit such as this cannot be sought by 
worldly means.” 

Ta-mo then left for the north, for the capital of 
the then Wei kingdom at Lo-yang. Here for nine 
years, ’tis said, he sat with his face to the wall, and 
after five attempts to poison himself, finally died. 
Compromises Between Northern and Southern Schools. 

Ta-mo gave orders that other patriarchs should 
succeed him for two hundred years, then “ the law of 
Buddha having spread throughout the whole nation, 
the succession of patriarchs will cease.” Five Chinese 
patriarchs, accordingly, bore the honour. Since then 
the patriarchate has ceased to exist. Other schools, 
namely, those known as the Tien-tai, the Chin-tu, the 
Lin-chi, etc., have sought to combine these two ex- 
tremes of formalism and mysticism as exemplified by 
the schools of Northern Buddhism and that of Ta-mo, 
until we have in China almost as many varying de- 
nominations of Buddhism as there are of Christianity. 

They may, today, however, be divided roughly into 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 253 


Mystics (Ch’an-si), Ritualists (Fa-si) and Discipli- 
narians or Ascetics (Lu-si). The latter, few in num- 
ber, now wander about barefooted, begging their way, 
and make a precarious living by fortune-telling, etc. 
The day for more severe asceticism, such as the 
hanging of weapons in the flesh, the severing of 
limbs or self-cremation known to past dynasties, is 
past. The second includes the great majority of 
priests of the present. ‘They simply take literally 
and formally the books, ceremonies and postures pre- 
scribed by the past and go through the daily routine 
of special occasion requirements as might so many 
automatic figures. 

The Mystics are more consistent descendants of 
Ta-mo and the Buddha. As one ascends Omei, the 
sacred mountain of Szechwan province, here and there 
in the temples may be found the bones and skull of 
past priests who, through long processes of meditation, 
are said to have attained Nirvana. Their bodies have 
been, accordingly, not cremated as the custom is, but 
carefully covered over with plaster and other sub- 
stances and now set up among the Buddhas and 
Bodhisatvas are worshipped by the pilgrim throng. 
There are few, if any, willing to endure such extreme 
abnegation today. Yet here and there, as in the great 
Wen-Shu monastery, in Chengtu, Szechwan’s provin- 
cial capital, one may enter the Ta-mo hall and see on 
either side a score or more of the Lin-chi sect, seeking 
to lose all knowledge of sense, time and space. The 
abbot informs you that the custom is to sit with the 
eyes fixed on the end of the nose, the nose pointed to 


254 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY. 


the centre of the breast and the thoughts completely 
at rest. After a time all sense surroundings will dis- 
appear. One has but to look at the faces of these 
misguided seekers of the Way, to believe that the pro- 
cess in many cases is too sadly true and that they 
become half comatose creatures devoid of the glow and 
splendour of the Divine image within. Others, doubt- 
less, find, as has been demonstrated in many another 
monkish system, that this way of meditation, far from 
bringing the destruction of desires, brings through in- 
activity but greater incitement, and makes baser 
thoughts more dominant. 

Buddhism Founded in Fallacy. 

It would be quite wrong, however, to attempt to 
banish present-day Buddhism as an utterly benighted 
system which has been and is bereft of all benefit to 
China’s masses. ‘They have doubtless their black 
sheep among priests and people, but such are the ex- 
ception, not the rule. Ethically their ten command- 
ments, stated in China as: Thou shalt not (1) kill, 
(2) steal, (3) commit adultery, (4) lie, (5) sell wine, 
(6) defame others, (7) praise yourself, (8) be parsi- 
monious and scoffing, (9) grow angry and refuse re- 
proof, (10) revile the three Precious Ones (Buddha, 
the Law and the Priesthood), though distorted in in- 
terpretation are respected by many. The laity are 
expected to emphasize the first five, and these doubt- 
less bear fruit. 

Despite some recent attempts at reform and the 
search for Bodhi in special circles, however, the stress 
is little heard today upon such morals. Instead of 


BUDDHISM IN CHINA 255 


teaching and exhortation, services consist largely in 
reading sutras, transliterations of ancient texts under- 
stood neither by the masses nor the majority of the 
monks themselves. Thus, the rank and file know 
chiefly to abstain from meats, to release life on 
Buddha’s birthday, to call in the priests for funerals, 
and to repeat constantly the name of O-mi-to Foh, 
praying his aid and ultimate entrance into his Para- 
dise. Unfortunately, the motive now is rarely love 
and service to all sentient beings and man, but rather 
the selfish hope of eventually escaping the six paths of 
another existence, namely, of animals, hungry ghosts, 
spirits in hell, men, asuras and devas; and reaching the 
joys of the Western Heaven or the non-existence of 
Nirvana. Furthermore, the Confucianists, the long 
and at times bitter opponents of Buddhism, can claim 
an at least equally pure and well-sustained moral code, 
so the ethical contribution of the Buddhist system to 
China is greatly curtailed. 

Religiously, nevertheless, Buddhism has supplied a 
need of the human soul which later Confucianism 
with its over-emphasis on reason and consequent 
tendency to agnosticism has refused to give. Badly 
beclouded as they are, even Buddhist conceptions 
and convictions of a Higher Power and human sav- 
iours have brought some measure of comfort in a cruel 
world, and are apparent steps in the search after the 
All-Father. 

/ésthetically, Buddhism has also inspired much effort 
in China and many superb things in pottery and bronze, 
painting, carving and architecture are still scattered 


256 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


far and wide to attest its gentle love of life and of 
the beautiful. 

Whatsoever things of these are true, beautiful, of 
good report, Christianity in turn comes not to destroy 
but to fulfil. 


XIII 


ISLAM IN CHINA 


T is a matter of considerable surprise to some to 
find Mohammedans in China, a surprise which 
deepens greatly when it is discovered that they 


are there so widespread and in such numbers. 


Mr. 


Marshall Broomhall, in his excellent book Islam in 
China, and to which we are much indebted, has made 
perhaps the most satisfactory study of this subject 
and gives us the following maximum estimate of Mo- 


hammedan population: 


Province Population 
Kansu ......... 3,500,000 
Shensi 500,000 
Shansi 25,000 
RL Tee ta ee 2 1,000,000 
Shantung ...... 200,000 
Honan 250,000 
Kiangsu ....... 250,000 
Szechwan ...... 250,000 
Kweichow ...... 20,000 
Yunnan ........ 1,000,000 
Brapelinc. oc. « 10,000 


Province Population 
Kianget iiss ve: 2,900 
Anhwei........ 40,000 
Chekiang ...... 7,000 
Filia nee orn a 20,000 
Kwangtung .... 25,000 
Kywangsitcn sine. 20,000 
Hukien (if Sen 1,000 
Manchuria...... 200,000 
Sinkiang ....... 2,400,000 
Mongolia ...... 100,000 
TOTAL!) strc. eeu, Sek UU 


Other writers are quoted who have placed the Mo- 
hammedan population at fifteen millions, twenty mil- 


257 


258 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


lions, thirty-four millions, fifty millions, and a Chinese 
Moslem official of Yunnan province even estimated 
them at seventy millions! Placing this population, 
therefore, at ten millions would seem sufficiently con- 
servative, which would mean that at least one individ- 
ual in every forty of China’s citizens is a Moham- 
medan. ‘That they are so widespread, being found, 
though in vastly varying proportions, in all provinces 
of the land is also a matter worthy of note. 

Certain questions immediately arise which directly 
or indirectly concern us in our study: By what route 
did Mohammedanism come? What were the causes 
which brought it? When did it arrive? What has 
been its history in the land? What is its present 
cultural influence in China? These and other queries 
we must attempt to answer. But we will do this poorly 
until we remind ourselves of some of the historic 
factors connected with the life of its founder and the 
spread of his convictions. We study first, therefore, 
Islam in Arabia. 

The Birthplace of Mohammed. 

The ancient city of Mecca, so Mohammedan tradi- 
tion assures us, marks the spot where Hagar long ago 
laid her perishing son Ishmael down to die. Here the 
well is still shown from whence she drew the life-giving 
water, and here is situated the Kaaba, or “ Cube,” a 
small building approximately thirty feet each way 
which housed, in the early centuries of our era, the 
gods of the Koreish and other tribes. At a height of 
about four feet from the ground, the outer wall con- 
tains a small reddish-black stone (about six by eight 


ISLAM IN CHINA 259 


inches in size), dotted with coloured crystals and en- 
circled with a band of silver. This is the famous 
Black Stone, brought to earth, so Arabian tradition 
avers, by the angel Gabriel. 

Here Mohammed was born in the year 570 A. D. 
His father had died before his birth and his mother 
died when he was but a boy of seven, so for two brief 
years he was guided by his grandfather, the head of 
the Koreish clan. Then the good grandfather also 
died and he came into the home of his uncle, Abu 
Talib. 

Mohammed never went to school. It is doubtful if 
he ever learned to write. His school was the great 
school of the world. He learned to watch his uncle’s 
camels and sheep on the mountain side, to ride Arabia’s 
far-famed steeds, even to fight at times, or to listen at 
night to the traditions of his tribe and search the 
strange panorama of the star-studded heavens. 

His Youth. 

At twelve years of age, like another historic Child, 
he travelled away, possibly to Jerusalem—at any rate 
through Palestine and north to Syria. He was with 
his uncle’s caravan as it went to trade Mecca’s prod- 
ucts for those of other lands. This was evidently but 
the first of many such journeyings. ‘These brought 
him varied experiences but little wealth, and at twenty- 
five, Mohammed still lacked both wife and fortune. 
Both, however, were to come soon—and together. A 
lady of renown, Khadijah, needed a skilled leader to 
manage her caravan, and when Mohammed had proved 
his ability to manage that successfully, she chose him 


260 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


for the longer journey of life. Though she was fifteen 
years his senior, the new home seems to have been a 
happy one and while she lived Khadijah did much to 
give a sane solution to the crises in Mohammed’s 
new career. 

Mohammed had always been a man of good family. 
Now, by his marriage, he was raised to a position of 
comparative affluence.. Freed thus from the struggle 
for existence, he began to take a more prominent place 
in the affairs of his tribe. His grandfather had been 
head of the Koreish, as said, and that gave him as 
grandson place and prestige. An incident which trans- 
pired when he was thirty-five shows this. It is related 
that the tribes were repairing the Kaaba which had 
been almost destroyed by a diastrous flood. All went 
well until the difficult question arose as to who was 
worthy of raising to its pristine place, the sacred Black 
Stoner This was left to Mohammed, who solved it by 
assigning each of the four leading chiefs a corner of 
a sheet on which the stone was accordingly harmoni- 
ously raised to its proper position. 

But his interests were not wholly social. He had 
come to the period of reflection, and religious rites and 
beliefs were often before him. Indeed, his time was 
one of religious contacts and conflicts. Not only were 
there the traditional animism and polytheism of his 
own Arabian peoples, but mingled with them were 
other cults and settlements of Jews and Christians. 
These latter he had met on many occasions during his 
caravan journeys to the north, when he had even re- 
ceived hospitality at Christian hands. 


ISLAM IN CHINA 261 


Religious Revelations. 

Thus, in the year 610 a. D., when forty years of age, 
we find him retiring with his wife to a cave on Mount 
Hira, near to Mecca, for meditation. It was while 
here that he experienced strange psychic manifesta- 
tions. One of these was a supposed visit from the 
angel Gabriel, who approached within two bow-shots’ 
length and, presenting a silken cloth covered with 
writing, bade him read. This was the beginning of 
revelations direct from Heaven. Then, and later, these 
were uttered by Mohammed as messages to men, and, 
later still, after his death, collected by his followers to 
form their sacred book, The Koran, that is, the 
“ Recitations.” 

The Flight. 

Khadijah, his wife, was his first convert, then his 
two adopted children, Ali and Zeid, and later Abu 
Bekr, a merchant, and the fiery Omar, all five of 
whom were to be intimately associated with the new 
prophet and his propaganda. Like many another 
would-be reformer, Mohammed, in the main, met only 
ridicule in his native city of Mecca. A half-hundred, 
however, believed, and were subject to such persecu- 
tions that many fled to the Christian king of Abyssinia. 
Pilgrims from other centres were apparently more open 
to conviction. This was especially true of certain 
Jews and others of Medina, a city a short distance to 
the north. Thither Mohammed accordingly fled, in 
the year 622 a. p., a date to be ever after kept sacred 
in the annals of Islam as 1 Anno Hegira, that is, the 
First Year of the Flight. 


262 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Unfortunately for the new faith, Khadijah, with her 
fine feminine instincts, had passed away in the year 
620 a. p. Left bereft of her presence and guidance, 
Mohammed had given reign to the fiery steeds of 
animal desire even before the Flight. The very year 
of Khadijah’s death he contracted two new marriages, 
one with a widow, the other with a child of ten, the 
daughter of Abu Bekr. Indeed, the records show that 
from the age of fifty when his first wife died to the 
age of sixty-two, at which time he, himself, passed 
away, the new prophet had accumulated ten wives and 
two concubines. One of the former was the wife of 
his adopted son, Zaid, whom he persuaded to divorce 
her. The others were mainly widows, two of men 
whom he had murdered. 

In Medina. 

During his first year in Medina, Mohammed set 
himself to the establishment of his new creed. On the 
spot where the famous camel Al Caswa, which carried 
him in his flight, had stopped in the city, he erected 
the first mosque and, near by, a minaret. From the 
. latter a negro slave summoned the people five times 
daily to prayer—at dawn, at noon, at sunset, and two 
hours before and after the latter. In the mosque, 
Mohammed, himself, preached to the people each Fri- 
day, prescribing the four genuflections, the washings 
and other rules and revelations. The latter were 
often in poetic form and judging from their flow and 
rhythm must have been preceded by many hours of 
meditation. 

But more sinister concepts were being created in 


ISLAM IN CHINA 263 


the prophet’s brain. He began to dream of position, 
of power, of wealth, of dominion. At first, he was 
somewhat friendly to the Jews and Christians. He 
even had his followers face Jerusalem when at prayer. 
But his claims to be not only a prophet, but te prophet 
of Allah, led to inevitable conflict. He began to silence 
his enemies by secret assassinations. He needed funds 
and sent his followers out to attack the caravans from 
his native Mecca, and even bowed so low as to break 
the sacred truce of the month of Rejeb when, according 
to the unwritten traditions of the desert, even the wild 
Bedouin refrains from plundering. Medina became 
actually a nest of freebooters, forgiven and frenzied 
by the pliable faith of their prophet. 

War of Mecca. 

By the year 630 A. p., Mohammed could assemble 
ten thousand fiery followers. With these he marched 
upon Mecca. The defense was feeble and the city 
fell. Contrary to the custom of his followers in later 
years, Mohammed’s first act was one of clemency and 
he spared the people of the city. His next was to hurl 
the ancient tribal gods from their holy place, the 
Kaaba. By a later act, however, he made it, and not 
Jerusalem, the centre of power and prayer, which it 
has remained throughout the succeeding centuries. 
Two years later (632 a. p.) he died, and was buried in 
Medina. 

The above is a very inadequate outline of Moham- 
med’s life and immediate influence as seen by Western 
writers. The picture presented by his followers should 
also be recorded. Samuel M. Zwemer, in his /slam 


264 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


and other writings, to which we are indebted for much 
of the substance of our summary, gives us the follow- 
ing from Kamal ul Din (a. p. 1349-1405): 

In Praise of Their Prophet. 

‘““ Mohammed is the most favoured of mankind, the 
most honoured of all apostles, the prophet of mercy, 
the head or Imam of the faithful. He is the best of 
prophets, and his nation the best of all nations, his 
creed the noblest of all creeds. He was perfect in 
intellect, and was of noble origin. He had an abso- 
lutely graceful form, complete generosity, perfect 
bravery, excessive humility, useful knowledge, power 
of performing high actions, perfect fear of God 
and sublime piety. He was the most eloquent and 
the most perfect of mankind in every variety of per- 
fection and the most distant of men from meanness 
and vices. 

“¢ Aisha stated that the prophet, when at home, used 
to serve his household; he used to pick out the vermin 
from his cloak and patch it; mend his own shoes, and 
serve himself. He used to give fodder to his camel, 
sweep the house, tie the camel by the foreleg, eat with 
the female slave, knead dough for her, and carry his 
own things from the market. He used to be con- 
stantly in a state of grief and anxiety, and never had 
any peace of mind. 

“‘ Ali stated that he asked the prophet regarding his 
mode of life, and that he replied, ‘ Knowledge is my 
capital; love, my foundation; desire, my vehicle; the 
remembrance of God, my boon companion; grief, my 
friend; knowledge, my arms; patience, my cloak; the 


i Sie 


ISLAM IN CHINA 265 


pleasure of God, my share of plunder; poverty, my 
distinction; renunciation of the world, my profession; 
faith, my strength; truth, my interceder; obedience to 
God, my sufficiency; religious war, my nature; and 
the refresher of my eye is prayer.’ ” 

As one reads such descriptions one cannot but feel 
that such Mohammedanism is a faith bordering at 
times upon fanaticism, based little upon its founder 
but largely upon later fiction and fancy born of poetic 
ideals. But Mohammedanism has as its standards 
not alone the example of the prophet. It has also the 
Koran and certain reputed sayings and doings not 
therein recorded but sanctioned by tradition. It has 
further the interpretations of these as stressed by the 
Sunnis, Shias and many other than the seventy-three 
sects into which the prophet foretold that his fol- 
lowers would divide. 

With these as a basis, Mohammedan faith and 
practice (still following Zwemer) may be divided as 
follows: 

Six Articles of Faith. 

Mohammedan Faith has sx special articles. They 
are: (1) A Conception of God. ‘ There is no God 
but Allah,” that is the first step both in order and in 
importance of the creed. It is monotheistic, and God 
is represented as personal, all wise, all powerful and 
omnipresent. But His will is utterly arbitrary. He 
is in no way limited by a moral standard which He has 
established. He is not unchangeable, the same yester- 
day, today and forever, but free to the verge of fickle- 
ness, and man can but fear and tremble. 


266 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


(2) A Belief in Angels. These include the four 
archangels, Gabriel who reveals truth, Michael the 
patron of the Jews, Israfil who will sound the last 
trumpet. Israil the angel of death and numerous ordi- 
nary angels and jinn or genii. The former are formed 
from light and include two recording angels for each 
individual. The latter are formed from fire, and haunt 
baths, wells and ruined houses. Lastly and most to 
be dreaded there is the devil, Azazil and his numerous 
and terrible imps. 

(3) Sacred Books. ‘‘ Moslems believe that God 
sent down one hundred and four sacred books. Only 
four books now remain, namely, the Torah or law 
which came to Moses; the Zabur or Psalms which 
David received; the Injil or Gospel of Jesus, and the 
Koran. The latter is uncreated and eternal, to deny 
this is rank heresy. While the other three books are 
highly spoken of in the Koran, they now exist, Mos- 
lems claim, only in a corrupted form, and their pre- 
cepts have been abrogated by the final book to the 
last prophet Mohammed.” 

(4) Major and Minor Prophets. There are six 
major prophets of Islam; Thus ‘“ Adam is the chosen 
of God; Noah, the preacher of God; Abraham, the 
friend of God; Moses, the spokesman of God; Jesus, 
the spirit of God; and Mohammed, the apostle of 
God. Mohammed has also two hundred and one other 
titles of honour by which he is known among the 
faithful.” 

In addition there are twenty-two minor prophets 
mentioned in the Koran. They are: Enoch, Heber, 


ISLAM IN CHINA 267 


Methusaleh, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Lot, Aaron, 
Jethro, Zacharias, John the Baptist, David, Solomon, 
Elias, Elijah, Job, Jonah, Ezra, Likman (sop), Isaiah 
and Alexander the Great. 

“According to the Moslem teaching,” (to again 
quote Dr. Zwemer) “ Jesus was miraculously born of 
the Virgin Mary. He spoke while still a babe in the 
cradle, performed many puerile miracles in His youth, 
healed the sick and raised the dead when He reached 
manhood. He was specially commissioned to confirm 
the Law and reveal the Gospel. He was strengthened 
by the Holy Spirit (Gamaliel). He foretold another 
prophet, whose name should be Ahmed (Mohammed). 
Jesus was by deception and substitution saved from 
crucifixion and taken to heaven. He is now in one of 
the inferior stages of celestial bliss. He will come 
again at the last day, slay anti-Christ, kill all the 
swine, break the cross, and remove the poll-tax from 
infidels. He will reign as a just King for forty-five 
years, marry and leave children, then die and be buried 
near Mohammed at Medina. The place of His future 
grave is already marked out between the graves of 
Omar and Fatimah.” Mohammed now dwells in the 
highest heaven several degrees above Jesus. 

(5) The Day of Judgment. There will be forty 
days’ rain, the os sacrum of each human will be re- 
vitalized and the body literally rise again. For the 
good after Judgment there will be an everlasting life 
of physical joys, gardens, couches, wine, houris. 
Mohammed is reported to have said, “‘ The believer in 
Paradise will marry five hundred houris, four thou- 


268 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


sand virgins and eight thousand divorced women.” 
Hell is sevenfold and full of inarticulate terrors, 
serpents, scorpions, fire, burning pitch, pus. 

“‘ Connected with the Day of Judgment are the signs 
of its approach, viz., the coming of the anti-Christ 
(Daj-jal), the return of Jesus as a Moslem prince, the 
rising of the sun in the west, the war of Gog and 
Magog, etc.” : 

(6) Predestination. Orthodox Mohemmedanism is 
ultra-Calvinistic. All man’s life here and hereafter is 
fixed. Each has his irrevocable fate. Omar Khayyam 
voices the sentiment of millions when he writes: 


“Tis all a Chequer-board of nights and days 
Where Destiny with man for pieces plays, 
Hither and thither moves and mates and slays, 
And one by one back in the Closet lays.” 


The Practice of Islam. 

While Islam means resignation to the will of God 
it is especially submission to His will in the observance 
of five duties.” Mohammed said, “ A Moslem is one 
who is resigned and obedient to God’s will and (1) 
bears witness that there is no god but God, and that 
Mohammed is His Apostle; (2) is steadfast in prayer; 
(3) gives “ zakat,” that is legal alms; (4) fasts in the 
month of Ramazan; and (5) makes a pilgrimage to 
Mecca, if he have the means.” 

In addition to these five, three other practises are 
emphasized (cf. Zwemer), viz., (1) circumcision, (2) 
feasts and festivals, (3) the Jihad, or religious war. 
The Koran demands that the true believer “ kill those 





ISLAM IN CHINA 269 


who join other gods with God, wherever ye shall find 
them.” 
Seven Sins. 

Some say there are seven great sins—idolatry, mur- 
der, false charge of adultery, wasting the substance of 
orphans, taking interest on money, desertion from 
Jihad, and disobedience to parents. Others say there 
are seventeen and include wine-drinking, witchcraft, 
and perjury. . . . Nothing is right or wrong by 
nature, but by the fiat of the Almighty. It is signifi- 
cant that Mohammedan sense of sin does not forbid 
polygamy, divorce and slavery. 

Spread of Islam. 

We have dealt at some length with the prophet and 
his revelations, especially as the latter have been ex- 
plained and enforced by his followers. We next pro- 
ceed to inquire as to how and whither the propaganda 
spread, and, in particular, the causes and courses by 
which the new creed came to China. 

Before Mohammed’s death, in 632 a. p., Arabia had 
largely surrendered to the new faith, and just before 
his fatal illness he gave orders to attack Syria. ‘“ Slay 
the polytheists wherever ye find them,” were his 
orders, and Abu Bekr, his successor as Caliph, has- 
tened to obey the command. In turn the fiery Omar 
became Caliph (634 A. p.) and by 637 A. p., Damascus, 
Jerusalem and all Syria had fallen before his arms. 
Another three years and the ancient empire of Egypt 
had collapsed, to be followed in another two years by 
the overthrow of proud Persia. The onward march of 
Islam at this time is thus depicted by Zwemer: 


270 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


“Tt swept across Syria, Egypt, Tunis, Algiers, 
Morocco, like a desert simoom,—swift, fierce, impet- 
uous, irresistible, destructive,—only to be curbed and 
cooled by waves of the Atlantic. History tells of 
Akba, one of their leaders, that he rode his horse far 
out into the surf, crying: ‘Great God! If I were not 
stopped by this raging sea, I would go to the nations 
of the West, preaching the unity of Thy name and 
putting to the sword those who would not submit.’ 

“Tarik, finding no lands to the West, crossed over 
the straits into Spain, and named its promontory, 
Gibraltar, Jebel Tarik (the mountain of Tarik),—an 
everlasting monument to his missionary zeal.” 

It was not until the battle of Tours, 732 A. p., just 
one hundred years after Mohammed’s death, that 
France and Western Europe were saved from the Mos- 
lem power. As it was, the Moors ruled Spain until 
1492. For one hundred years, 651-750, the Caliphs of 
Damascus spread their fiery faith throughout the cen- 
tral portions of ancient Asia, to be followed by the 
long, and largely enlightened, régime of the Caliphs of 
Bagdad, 750-1258. 

Contemporary History of China. 

From this cyclonic commotion which was shaking 
and shaping the western side of the Asian continent, 
we turn to its eastern slopes in China. The year 
618 a. D., while Mohammed was still in Mecca, and 
slowly gathering a small group of believers, saw the 
downfall of the Sui and the rise of the famous Tang 
dynasty. The Sui was the last of a long series of 
attempts to control China’s vast peoples which had 


ISLAM IN CHINA 271 


gone on unsuccessfully for a period of over four hun- 
dred years, from the time of the great Han régime 
(B. C. 206-A. D. 221). Under the Tang a new era 
arrived. The whole land was unified and vastly ex- 
tended, Korea and Tibet were conquered, and even 
parts of Japan and India repulsed. ‘“‘ The empire 
under the first of the Tang dynasty extended from 
the Yellow Sea to the Aral Sea, and from Siberia to 
the southernmost point in Farther India” (Li Ung- 
bin, Outlines of Chinese History). It was an age of 
peace, of prosperity, of poetry, of economic freedom 
when intercourse with foreign nations was encouraged, 
and of religious freedom when many religions from 
other parts of Asia found their way into the land. 
The Tang fell in 907 a. pD., to be followed after the 
usual period of unrest which has always followed the 
downfall of all great dynasties in China, by the almost 
equally renowned dynasty of the Sungs (960-1280). 
This was, pre-eminently, the period of Chinese philos- 
ophy and pictorial art, and an attempt was even made 
at public ownership of lands. The Sung fell before 
the onrush of the Mongols, who, though they ruled 
China for less than a hundred years (1280-1368), held 
mastery over practically all Asia so complete that 
there was again a continuance of great freedom as 
regards foreign relations, and many nations and their 
religions were welcomed to the land. The native Min 
dynasty (1368-1644) and the Manchu dynasty (1644- 
1911) bring Chinese history down to the days of the 
present Republic. These latter two dynasties were at 
times not so liberal to the foreigner, an attitude easily 


272 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


explained when one recalls their early experiences with 
the Portuguese and other pioneer traders from the 
West, and unsatisfactory diplomatic relations in more 
recent years. 

Two Contacts. 

What were the contacts of Mohammedanism with 
the people of China during this long period? In brief, 
there were two chief points of contact, one by way of 
the ancient sea-route round the south of the con- 
tinent reaching China on its south-eastern coast, the 
other, the great overland route through central Asia 
and Turkestan reaching China by way of the prov- 
ince of Kansu in the far north-west. As it had 
priority in chronological contact, let us trace the 
former first. 

The Sea Route to Canton. 

It is a matter of historic record that in the sixth 
year of the Hegira (628 a. p.), Mohammed sent com- 
munications to foreign potentates inviting them to em- 
brace Islam. Taking advantage of the fact of Arab 
traders making the long sea voyage to China in search 
of silk and spices, Mohammed possibly sent a similar 
message to the far-away court of Cathay. Tradition 
says that he did, and that the messenger was no less 
a personage than a maternal uncle of the prophet. 
There seems some reason for agreeing that such a dele- 
gate really did go to China at that time, that he went 
to the capital then at Sianfu, had an interview with 
the great Tang Emperor and was authorized to build 
a mosque at Canton, that he made another voyage to 
his native land and that he finally died and was buried 


ISLAM IN CHINA 273 


in the famous Echo Tomb, outside the city of Canton. 
There is, none the less, great need of clearer evidence 
as to who this messenger was. The name given in 
Chinese writings is Saad Wakkas, or Saad, son of Abu 
Wakkas, but critics agree that these lived, died and 
were buried in Arabia, nor were they ‘“‘ maternal uncle 
to Mohammed.” M. de Thiersant has conjectured that 
the person was probably a maternal uncle, one Wahab 
bin Kabsha, but Broomhall seems to show that there 
is little support for such a statement. Indeed, some 
are inclined to consider the whole story a glorification 
of a later generation. 

Chinese Records Regarding This. 

More important for our present study, however, is 
the current belief of the followers of Islam themselves 
in China (cf. Broomhall). This is contained in a 
Chinese work, “ Hwei-Hwei Yuan lai,” or Origin of 
Islam in China. ‘This states that in the third year of 
Tai-tsung, the first Emperor of the Tang dynasty, he 
one night had a dream. In it appeared monsters with 
black heads, no hair, enormous mouths and projecting 
teeth, most terrific and evil to behold, which rushed 
into the royal palace. Then pursuing them, came a 
man whose clothes were white and powdered, had a 
jewelled girdle of jade encircling his loins, on his head 
a plain hat, and around it a cloth turban like a coiled 
dragon. When he entered the palace he knelt toward 
the West. The monsters, when they saw him, were at 
once changed into their proper forms, and in a distress- 
ful voice, pleaded for forgiveness. 

This was readily interpreted by the astrologers and 


274 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


court to point to the prophet of Islam. So at their 
suggestion ambassadors were sent to Arabia and 
brought back with them three men to interpret the 
new revelation. These apparently came by way of the 
southern sea-route, one of their number being, they 
say, Saad Wakkas. In his interview with the Em- 
peror, he is represented among other things as explain- 
ing the meaning of the terms “ Hwei-Hwei,” the name 
by which Mohammedanism is known in China. The 
words mean literally, ‘‘ Return—return.” 

“It refers,” he said, ‘to the temporary stay of 
man upon earth which he leaves to return at death. 
It refers to the soul’s return to the Beyond, to the 
return of the erring conscience to the right way, to 
the veturn from the elusive and false, to the real 
and true.” 

After this interview, tradition sends him to Canton, 
where he erected the Holy Remembrance Mosque, then 
to Arabia, where he secured the Koran, arriving again 
in Canton, only to die and be buried a half-mile north 
of the city in the Echo Tomb. Thus Islam came to 
China by the southern sea-route, according to present- 
day belief and Chinese Mohammedan writers. 

The Land Route to the North-west. 

The first followers of Mohammed to reach China by 
way of the north-west land-route came, probably, about 
the year 720 a. pv. At that time the Omeyides were 
sweeping eastward. Persia had long since fallen. 
India and Tibet had come pleading aid against the 
common foe, and China had sent two hundred thousand 
men to their assistance only to be routed, in turn. 


ISLAM IN CHINA 275 


Had not these Caliphs of Damascus and their gen- 
erals begun to weaken, it is possible China would also 
have fallen. It was at some time during these eastern 
wars that certain of the Zaid sect of Islam, persecuted 
by the faithful of the reigning Caliphs, are reported as 
finding an asylum in China. How many came is 
equally indefinite. 

The Abbasides or “ Black Flags,” Caliphs of Bag- 
dad, who succeeded the Damascus régime, 750 A. D., 
seem to have been on better terms with China. Thus, 
when the reigning Tang Emperor, about 755 A. D., 
found himself confronted by a widespread rebellion in 
the north-west under An Lu-shan, he appealed to Bag- 
dad for aid. In response, four thousand warriors are 
said to have arrived in China. These, after the rebel- 
lion had been suppressed, settled down in the land, 
married Chinese wives and became Chinese Moham- 
medan subjects. How many came since, either as 
warriors or as refugees, during the centuries which 
followed, it is impossible to discover. The statistics, 
as recorded at the beginning of this chapter, show how 
they have multiplied unto this day. 

Mohammedan Rebellions. 

On the whole, the Mohammedans have shown them- 
selves good citizens, and, on many occasions, aided 
the Empire in her wars, not a few civil and many 
military officials rising to places of honour. Conse- 
quently, during the long years of the Tang, Sung, Yuen 
and Min dynasties there appears to have been little 
cause for conflict. On the contrary, the late Manchu 
régime brought many conflicts, largely, it would seem, 


276 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


from the rapacity of official subordinates. Repeated 
rebellions broke out, attended by awful slaughter on 
each side. Chief of these were the Yunnan rebellion, 
1855-1873, when Tu Wen-hsiu set himself up as Sultan 
in Talifu, and that under Yakoob Beg in the great 
north-west which lasted from 1862 to 1877. In both 
rebellions millions perished, and great areas of terri- 
tory were left ruined.and destitute of population. It 
will be noted that both these have been along the west, 
where the Mohammedan population is greatest, and 
contact with the source of Islam easiest of access. 
Marks of the Mohammedan. 

What characteristics, if any, distinguish the Moham- 
medan from his fellow-Chinese citizen? ‘To a new- 
comer to the great land of Sinim there seem to be 
but few. Intercourse, intermarriage, race instincts and 
customs appear to have almost completely absorbed 
any immigration from Western Asia. But a longer 
sojourn in the community or a more careful observa- 
tion will reveal many distinguishing marks. 

In physical appearance the Mohammedan is fre- 
quently taller, longer of face, has a decidedly more 
prominent nose and flashing eye. Frequently, too, he 
is more active, even aggressive and domineering. In 
clothing, save in large communities, he differs less, and 
a white turban which might mark him, may just as 
reasonably be anyone in mourning. Yet in the more 
dense settlements, octagon or cone-shaped caps, the 
latter of which the Chinese dub “ pig heads,” may also 
be a sign. So may a moustache clipped short to the 
lip and left long at the ends, 


ISLAM IN CHINA 277 


Occupations also are a guide. In scattered numbers 
the Mohammedan, as a rule, is not a farmer. He isa 
merchant and at times among the wealthiest. He is 
perhaps especially a barterer in horses, cows, sheep 
and their resultants as milk, flesh, wool, hides. Na- 
turally he rigidly eschews the pig and its products. 
Thus, through Buddhist antipathies against killing 
cows, the beef-butcher business is almost exclusively 
Mohammedan; but pork is utterly taboo. Animals and 
fowl for food must be killed (ceremonially, at least), 
by the “ Ahung ” or Islam priest, while as a sign that 
their eating-houses are free from all contaminating 
things—especially lard—their co-religionists hang out 
a sign, not only with the words ‘“ chiao-men” or 
‘“ member ” upon it, but with also a water-urn to show 
that all is pure. 

Special Social Customs. 

In the great home ceremonies connected with birth, 
marriage and death, though many things are according 
to common Chinese custom, still there are also dis- 
tinguishing marks. ‘Thus a child, when seven days 
old, is given a name by a word from the Koran. At 
seven years he is, at times, circumcised and instructed 
in worship. During his ’teens he is married and 
must not leave home for the first year. At the wed- 
ding the prospective mother-in-law may go to the 
bride-to-be’s home to receive her, and the latter’s own 
mother may accompany her to her new home for the 
ceremony, both of which actions are contrary to usual 
procedure in China. Nor do the new pair bow to 
Heaven and the Ancestral tablet. Rather the priest 


278 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


recites appropriate passages from the Koran as 
solemnization. 

At death, the body is usually thoroughly wound in 
perfumed cloth, each limb separately. There is no 
thick-slabbed and costly coffin. The corpse is carried 
forth upon a single plank, a suitable loaf-shaped screen 
used as a public hearse, providing the covering, 
as the procession proceeds to the grave. Within the 
latter the body has no clothing save the cloth wrap- 
pings. The sides of the grave, however, are occasion- 
ally faced with boards or other material, and a small 
extension in the form of a cave may be made. The 
body must always face the West—toward Mecca—and 
may be placed kneeling or reclining. When completed, 
the mound is generally square in shape, and may have 
a headstone. 

Mosques. 

Mohammedan temples frequently show no distin- 
guishing marks from the street save the caption 
‘“‘Pure-True Temple.” But the enclosure once en- 
tered, the visitor is struck by their cleanliness and 
quiet. If the hour is one for prayer, believers are seen 
hurrying in and immediately proceeding to the side 
structures where small buckets of water are suspended 
for purification. Their ablutions suitably performed, 
they proceed to the main mosque. Sandals and shoes 
are left at the door; then each worshipper takes his 
place in his appropriate line upon the rows of matting 
that cover the wooden floor. All face Westward, the 
priest, readers and elders being in the front ranks. 
During the ceremonies, there are continual genuflec- 


ISLAM IN CHINA 279 


tions, bowing and prostration which only the initiated 
fully understand, and which few of those questioned 
will even attempt to explain. It is the custom, and 
that suffices. On the wall they face, indicating the 
West, are Arabic characters signifying Allah and in 
the right-hand corner a stairway leading up to an imi- 
tation door, the “ Gate to Paradise.” (Broomhall 
quotes some as saying that Jesus escaped through this 
to heaven, on which Judas was then taken and cruci- 
fied.) There are no idols in the place, the only adorn- 
ment being some lamps. In Szechwan, where the 
writer has chiefly come in contact with Islam, there 
seems to be no attempt to “call” the faithful to 
prayer. 

Propaganda. 

Is any attempt made to propagate the religion of 
the Prophet, and if so, how? 

There is practically no open attempt made at prose- 
lyting. The sect has apparently chiefly increased in 
proportion with the increase of population. No Mo- 
hammedan woman marries outside her sect, however, 
while marriage of the men to Chinese women is com- 
mon, and the woman, together with any children they 
may bear, thereby become members of Islam. Adop- 
tion is also quite common, especially after times of 
famine, when many children are taken into the Mo- 
hammedan fold. 

Mohammedan literature is quite widely spread 
throughout the country. Broomhall, in his J/slam, 
gives a list of a score of books, while another score are 
suggested. In Chengtu, there is quite a large shop 


280 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


given over to the sale of such literature, and maps of 
Mecca and its vicinity are for sale. Liu Chih is the 
chief author. 

Schools are more or less common in connection with 
the larger mosques. In these, there are usually but 
ten or a dozen youths of varying ages. The course 
continues as long as ten years and consists of the 
Koran and various commentaries. Not a few obtain 
a small smattering of Arabic sufficient to attempt pro- 
nunciation, but with little knowledge of its meaning. 
In large centres, such as Yunnan, even colleges are ex- 
istent, and Nanking has also had one of some repute. 
Mecca Pilgrimages. 

Pilgrimages to Mecca are fairly common in large 
communities, but in smaller centres they are very rare. 
The veneration with which they are regarded by the 
Moslem does not appear to extend in any way to the 
general community of non-believers. Indeed, there 
seems little in the general conduct of the “ haji” or 
his co-religionists to commend their religion or manner 
of life to the Chinese citizen. It is generally known 
that the Mohammedan does not eat pork, but even 
this rule is often broken by naming the meat “ mut- 
ton.” As to abstinence from wine or usury little is 
heard or seen. 

Required Practice. 

The five main requirements of practice, namely, 
(1) acknowledgment of but one God and Mohammed 
as His prophet; (2) the five daily prayers; (3) fasting 
during the month of Ramadan; (4) alms to the poor, 
and (5) facing Mecca at required times, all seem to 


ISLAM IN CHINA 281 


be fairly widely known but usually very loosely ob- 
served unless it be by the Ahungs and other leaders, 
the first and third being doubtless best honoured. The 
fourth, when levied, is at the rate of thirty-five cents 
on each fourteen taels, and is given chiefly to their 
own poor, so that a Mohammedan beggar is the rare 
exception. 

What is the attitude of the Chinese Mohammedan 
to the Westerner in China and to his fellow-Chinese 
citizen? 

Relation to Christianity. 

To the Westerner it is usually an attitude of friend- 
ship. Missionaries from almost all sections report that 
they are invited into their homes for feasts and even to 
their mosques for worship. Moreover, some Moslems 
return visits to the Christian churches. The fact that 
there is so much from a Scriptural standpoint common 
to both religions, is frequently emphasized. One is 
reminded that the Mohammedan prays to Adam before 
dawn, to Abraham about noon, to Jonah about tea- 
time, to Jesus at sunset and to Moses or Mohammed at 
bedtime. An aged reader in a small city once brought 
out his beautifully-embossed Arabic Koran in order to 
reveal to the writer the amount we had in common. 
A goodly share of this friendliness is doubtless due to 
native Chinese instinct, to the fact that the followers 
of the prophet are, in a sense, somewhat strangers 
themselves in the land and to the general ignorance as 
to the claims that separate Islam and Christianity. 
Recent years have tended to a closer intercourse be- 
tween China and the West of Asia, thus bringing not 


282 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


a few zealous Moslem teachers as visitors to those of 
the dispersion. A prominent example is that of a 
graduate of the great Egyptian University, El Azhar, 
at Cairo, who took up a strategic position in Peking. 
Modern Moslem literature is also coming into China, 
so that it is quite possible that the oncoming years 
may mean cleavage rather than closer relations be- 
tween those who follow Mohammed and those who 
follow Christ. 

Contact with Other Chinese. 

As to the relation of the Mohammedans to their 
fellow-Chinese it can be stated that though, in the 
main, there seems to be little discord; yet where the 
former are in large numbers, both race and religious 
temperaments are revealed. The Chinese is inclined 
to view the follower of Islam as alien—aggressive, and 
unreliable. This is seen in the tone in which the latter 
is referred to as a “ Hwei-tze,” ‘‘son of a Moslem,” 
and current sayings such as “ Ten Peking slippery 
ones cannot talk down one Tientsin brawler, and ten 
Tientsin brawlers cannot talk down one Moham- 
medan,” also ‘‘ Ten Mohammedans, nine thieves.” 
Islam’s Contribution. 

This leads us, in closing our study of Mohammedan- 
ism in China, to ask, What contribution, if any, has 
Islam made to Chinese culture? That is not easy to 
assay. Possibly the race has been somewhat enriched 
by a more aggressive strain, but that has its dishar- 
mony. ‘Their practices of eating beef and eschewing 
wine and usury have had a very limited effect. Prob- 
ably their greatest contribution has been their protest 


ISLAM IN CHINA 283 


against idolatry. Ethically however, they have not 
reached the elevation of China’s own great sage! 


* 2 2 2 * 


ABORIGINAL TRIBES 


Far back in the pages of The Book of Odes, many 
of which antedate B. c. 1000, one comes upon lines 
significant of the struggles that the Chinese once 
waged with the Miao tribes and their chieftains. In 
those days the Chinese occupied little more than the 
valley of the Yellow River, and even parts of that 
were under dispute. Slowly but surely her economic 
and military forces have driven these aboriginal 
peoples south and west until today they are found 
only along the southern provinces of Kwangtung, 
Kwangsi, Kweichow, Hunan, Yunnan and the great 
western province of Szechwan. 


Aboriginal Population. 

As to their numbers few dare venture an estimate. 
Dr. Li Ung-bing, in his Outlines of Chinese History, 
tells us that ‘The Imperial Institutes of China give 
the total number of Tu-sus (native rulers) as five hun- 
dred and fifty-seven. Szechwan heads the list with 
two hundred and sixty-nine. It is estimated that in 
the provinces of Hunan, Kweichow, Kwangsi, Yun- 
nan, and Szechwan, the Miao and other tribes occupy 
an area of country equal to that of France, and have 
a population extending into the millions.” How many 
millions he does not venture to conjecture. 


Their Terrain. 
Their territory, too, it should be remembered, is not 


284 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


a solid block as the comparison to France might sug- 
gest, but scatters over these half-dozen provinces. As 
the surface of this southern and western stretch is 
largely mountainous the Chinese have found it all but 
impossible to dislodge them, but they are naturally 
broken up into a great number of small tribes and 
subtribes each in turn under the government of the 
aforementioned Tu-sus or Tu-mu, the Controllers and 
Guards of the terrain. These are rarely natives, but 
rather the descendants of Chinese officers, and are re- 
sponsible to the Chinese government. Other tribes, as 
the Lo-lo or No-su, seem more akin to the Tibetans 
and some of these have still succeeded in maintaining 
their independence of the sons of Han. 

Their Culture. 

As to their culture, the matter with which we are 
here chiefly concerned, they have kept themselves in 
the main quite apart from the Chinese. Throughout 
the mountainous districts, the conquerors being largely 
interested in agriculture and trade have occupied the 
valleys with their fields and their villages. The tribes 
people consequently are found chiefly along the slopes 
and tops of the mountains and are hunters, fishermen, 
herdsmen, and growers of maize and coarse vegetables. 
Some settlements are but scattered huts. In others for 
defense purposes the architecture takes the form of a 
rude fort surrounded by a stone wall. Within these 
enclosures, the houses rise three, four and more stories 
high. The first floor is for the goats and cattle, the 
second for the family and the higher parts for storage 
of grain and vegetables. 


ISLAM IN CHINA 285 


A small percentage adopt Chinese dress and speak 
the Chinese language. The great majority adhere to 
their own old costume and are known by some pe- 
culiarity of dress as the Flowery Miao, the Great 
Flowery Miao, the Little Flowery Miao and similar 
distinctions. The language of some tribes bears suf- 
ficient resemblance to make intercourse possible, others 
are quite distinct. 

Their Religions. 

Buddhism and Confucianism have had little or no 
effect upon them save as they are in contact with and 
somewhat akin (in the west and south-west) to the 
Tibetans. Ancestor worship has had some influence 
or has been some of their own indigenous development. 
Animism, in various forms, seems supreme. Idols are 
almost unknown, and there is little that savours of 
religious ceremony in connection with their births, 
marriages and deaths. The sorcerer, however, is much 
in demand to exorcise evil spirits in cases of sickness, 
when certain primitive writings are produced. These 
are passed on from master to apprentice, generation 
after generation as matters of profound secrecy. The 
culture of these millions of tribes people is in the main 
to be found within their customs and as these vary 
from place to place they can best be studied locally. 

Thus a tribe to the north-west of Szechwan, called 
the Chiang, seem to make a white stone their religious 
centre. The Lo-los, or No-su, as they prefer to be 
called, have sacred objects hung in small baskets to 
their ridge-poles, while the Wa-si tribes are steeped in 
black lamaism., These await investigation. 


XIV 
RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 


T has taken considerable time to trace the various 
native and foreign factors that have gone to the 
construction of great China’s culture. Among 

these we have noted the indigenous elements of Ani- 
mism, and Ancestor Worship, Psychology, Physics 
and Philosophy, Taoism and Confucianism, and also 
the imported strains which have come with Buddhism 
and Mohammedanism. Naturally among these, the 
last named being the most recent has been least 
assimilated and has the least influence. Ancestor 
Worship, on the contrary, it may be safely asserted, 
affects all. Animism is the background in the beliefs 
of the masses and is closely allied with present-day 
Taoism. Buddhism widely affects the beliefs of the 
oppressed, the aged, the more tender-hearted of the 
people. Confucianism, in the main, sets the ethical 
standards for the nation, but is the special culture of 
the scholar class. 

Confucian Control. 

This latter fact has had an important influence upon 
China’s internal and international relations, for her 
officials have almost invariably been chosen from her 
scholars. During the great Tang dynasty a system 
of literary examinations was established which, subject 


286 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 287 


to certain changes, were preserved down to modern 
times. Though intended in part as a system of general 
culture, they tended more and more to be a civil service 
system of tests. Degrees, corresponding roughly to 
our B.A., M.A., Ph.D., etc., signified, not alone liter- 
ary standing, but eligibility for ever higher grades of 
office. Thus Confucianism had become, through the 
centuries, not alone the culture of the learned and a 
sacred sect, but a closed corporation with potential and 
vested interests. It satisfied not alone the élite of the 
nation intellectually but was the basis of their pre- 
ferred position and power. Its preservation was 
imperative. 

Effects on Commerce. 

This showed its significance in China’s contacts 
with Western nations during the last century. It 
affected their attitude toward the foreign merchant, 
the foreign missionary and the foreign minister. The 
Portuguese reached China about 1517, not long after 
the discovery of America, but trade with China was 
but little developed, though they seized Macao as a 
base. Through the following three hundred years 
Spanish, Dutch, British, French and American mer- 
chants found their way to the East, but even as late 
as 1840 about the only place where trade was per- 
mitted was Canton, and that under strictly limited 
time and other conditions. The ruling class was ready 
to admit certain foreign goods, clocks, matches, mir- 
rors, etc., and even to admire their mechanical skill, 
but the “ foreign devil” himself was not to be allowed 
in the land, 


288 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Effects on Missions. 

If there was no particular welcome for the foreign 
merchant, much less was there one for the foreign 
missionary. ‘This, of course, was not the first contact 
of Christianity with China. It is possible certain 
Syrian monks who carried silk-worms from China to 
the West had sought to establish their faith in the land 
during the Han dynasty. Certainly the Nestorians 
were welcomed and their doctrines fairly widespread 
during the early days of the great Tang dynasty when 
Olopun (634 A. D.) was welcomed to the capital. 
These had still a standing in China as late as the times 
of Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, but later 
utterly disappeared. About this time the Franciscans 
under Montcorvin (1292) reached China and were 
welcomed by the court under Kublai Khan, but later 
all Western foreigners were excluded. 

The Confucian cult under following régimes became 
much more conservative and exclusive and so held a 
fine contempt for other schools of thought. What 
more ridiculous than that any good thing could come, 
especially in the way of culture, out of the barbarous 
West. The attempts therefore of St. Francis Xavier 
(1550) to renew Christian contact brought only rebuff, 
and Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary, 
met a similar situation in 1807. It was enough to 
admit the barbarians’ trinkets. To suggest that his 
thought-life had a value was unbearable. 

Effect on Foreign Relations. 

Possibly even more repulsive than the merchant and 

the missionary was the foreign minister. He had be- 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 289 


hind him the military machines of the foreign nations 
and so menaced Manchu power and back of it the 
exclusive political position which Confucian culture 
had gained. He, moreover, came claiming to be an 
equal, not a subordinate bearing gifts and suppliant 
for Imperial favour. Accordingly he must be kept at 
a distance. Thus, though the foreign nations sent to 
the East not a few men of distinction throughout the 
three centuries and more of contact, it was not until 
1860 that satisfactory status for foreign ministers was 
secured. Previously negotiations were through official 
underlings. 

Treaty Concessions. 

To many of the foreign diplomats of the day the 
only method of dealing with such an impasse seemed 
to be force. By the treaty of Nanking, 1842, which 
closed the First China War, Hongkong was ceded to 
Britain, and in addition to Canton four ports were 
opened for foreign trade, namely, Amoy, Foochow, 
Ningpo, and Shanghai. Two years later America 
secured similar rights and expanded these by adding 
a clause granting “ extraterritorial powers ” and an- 
other containing ‘“ favoured nation” privileges. In 
these times also began “ foreign concessions,” it being 
agreed that neither merchant nor missionary dwell 
elsewhere than strictly within the bounds granted in 
these treaty ports. 

_ Missionary Privileges. 

Expanded privileges for the missionary were granted 
chiefly at the revision of these treaties in 1858 and 
1860. Previous to this the Russians had gained some 


290 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


limited rights of propagation and against persecution 
of native converts, and France had these and prop- 
erty rights extended to the Roman Catholic Church. 
Further Protestant privileges were principally the 
work of the American Treaty of 1858, Wells Williams 
and Dr. Martin being chiefly instrumental in having 
inserted the following clause: 

“The principles .of the Christian religion as pro- 
fessed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches 
are recognized as teaching men to do good, and to do 
to others as they would have others do to them. Here- 
after, those who quietly profess and teach these doc- 
trines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account 
of their faith. Any person, whether citizen of the 
United States or Chinese convert, who, according to 
these tenets, peaceably teaches and practices the prin- 
ciples of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered 
with or molested.” 

The principle of a fixed customs tariff of five per 
cent was also established at this time, and growing 
out of the seizure of Shanghai by a rebel force dur- 
ing the Tai Ping rebellion, came the setting up of 
the Customs Service in which foreign nationals were 
given chief control. A Second China War was waged 
before the right of foreign ambassadors to reside in 
and negotiate directly with the government in Peking 
was secured, but by 1860 nearly all the privileges 
complained of today, namely customs control, extra- 
territoriality, favoured-nation clauses, foreign settle- 
ments and toleration toward missionary propaganda 
had been acceded. 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 291 


Conquered But Culturally Unconverted. 

China had thus capitulated to force, but the heart 
of her rulers had not changed. They still clung firmly 
to their ancient culture and resultant exclusiveness. 
The consequences were a long series of further ag- 
grandizement by the foreign nations during the latter 
half of the century. The period 1860-1900 found the 
ancient land drained of much wealth, half-hearted com- 
merce always leaving a balance of imports over ex- 
ports. It saw large concessions in natural resources 
such as mines and railways passing over to other na- 
tionals. It then or soon after saw territory on all 
sides, Burma, Indo*China, Kowloon, Formosa, Chin- 
tao, Wei-hai-wei, Port Arthur, Korea, the provinces 
of the Amoor, passing over to European powers. It 
saw her ancient cultures criticized and challenged in 
all her provinces by a foreign faith which when mob 
passions were aroused and riots ensued, meant more 
concessions and indemnities. Naturally there was 
growing indignation against foreign aggression and 
against the Manchu régime. The result was the Boxer 
rebellion of 1900 and further foreign aggrandizement. 
China again yielded, but again the heart of her rulers 
had not changed. Their faith still centred in their 
own culture. 

Cautious Concessions. 

The change came about 1904. The little neigh- 
bouring people of Japan had grappled with the 
great European giant Russia and had signally de- 
feated her. That seemed a stupendous thing. Was 
not Japan but a small island scarce larger than 


292 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


one province of China, and had she not received 
all her culture from her great neighbour? No, the 
latter was not fully true. She had of late turned to 
Western culture. Indeed, that was the secret of her 
success. That, too, must be China’s salvation in the 
international struggle. At last her ancient culture 
seemed to be weighed in the balance and found want- 
ing. The heart of. her resistance was weakened. 
China’s Confucian statesmen turned cautiously but 
with conviction to study Western ways of thought 
and action. 

Even before this great conversion, the nation had 
had sad and sufficient proof of the superiority of West- 
ern military methods, and had sought their initiation. 
Now such attempts went on with greater assurance. 
Smokeless powder factories were added to enlarged 
arsenals in the provinces. Schools of various grades 
for the training of new style officers were established, 
and out on the great parade grounds recruits by thou- 
sands marched to and fro practicing the latest ‘‘ Ger- 
man goose-step”’ and other drills. Experts from 
Japan, Germany and other foreign countries were in- 
vited as chief instructors. 

Modern Schools Opened. 

If the military officers were thus to be trained, it 
seemed right that the civil officials both actual and 
prospective should also receive instruction. Accord- 
ingly, special lecture courses, schools, colleges of law 
and jurisprudence at once sprang up in the great cen- 
tres. The constitutions, laws, courts of many lands 
were to be studied. As the ambition of almost every 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 293 


student was to some day become an official, these ave- 
nues were crammed with candidates. 

General education along Western lines was also 
adopted. ‘The provinces were surveyed into rough 
school areas, buildings in many cases erected, grades 
through lower primary, higher primary, middle schools 
up to colleges settled, courses planned and text-books 
published. Unfortunately an adequate army of new 
style teachers for such multitudes could not be so read- 
ily developed, and much confused pedagogy and in- 
struction was the result. Many young men during 
these years found their way to Japan to gain at first 
hand the hoped-for secret of success. 

Change Toward Christianity. 

Christianity during this decade also gained a better 
hearing. As its schools were known to teach foreign 
subjects they were usually thronged, the students being 
especially anxious to study mathematics and English 
with a view to official preparation. Not a few Chris- 
tian colleges were at this time started while others 
found their classes greatly augmented. The Christian 
movement at that time was, however, receiving a cer- 
tain class which has harmed rather than helped it. 
Great numbers of great China’s underworld, gamblers, 
smugglers, law-breakers, seeing that their own govern- 
ment officials had apparently become subject to the 
West, crowded into the churches, repeating Scrip- 
tures, uttering long prayers, singing hymns like saints, 
making of the church a means of offsetting official 
powers. Not a few church congregations at the time 
were little more than a lodge of some secret society and 


294 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


made the name of Christianity a stench among the 
better classes of the community. 
The Revolution. 

The climax to these years of tentative introduction 
of the Western culture was the Revolution of 1911. 
Education through the schools, books, magazines and 
papers had led to a nation-wide appeal for a more 
popular form of government in which the Chinese 
people and not the alien Manchu sovereign should rule. 
This the statecraft of the shrewd Empress Dowager 
was able to control during her lifetime, but the weak 
régime that followed her could not. Young military 
and other leaders, not a few of them returned students 
from abroad, co-operating with Sun Yat-sen’s party, 
and backed by nation-wide sentiment, easily overthrew 
the Manchus and their magistrates and set up the 
Republic. 

Military Menace. 

The decade to follow this, including the years 1911- 
1921, were disastrous years from a military stand- 
point. The country broke up into great areas under 
military marshals. Under these again with very pre- 
carious allegiance were generals who in turn farmed 
out their districts to captains and corporals. ‘Thus 
there are in reality, today, thousands of governments 
in general throughout the land, each little petty officer 
in certain areas being an arbitrary ruler over the peo- 
ple. Among these forces great and small, there has, 
moreover, been almost incessant struggles. The vic- 
tors in many cases come upon the cities, towns, villages 
and country dwellers for loans, levies, advanced taxes, 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 295 


and more recently have in certain districts been forc- 
ing the planting of opium as a means of greater reve- 
nue. The defeated have for longer or shorter periods 
as a rule turned robbers and raided whom they would, 
until killed off or bought off by other soldiery. These 
excesses have done much to arouse a real public opin- 
ion through ever wider localities, and it is to the hon- 
our of the old Confucian culture that its tenets are 
almost invariably the standards. 

New Labour Conditions. 

Such a reign of lawlessness has meant disaster to 
commerce in great inland districts. Where a measure 
of protection has been secured, especially in or con- 
tiguous to foreign concessions, new manufactories have 
sprung up in surprising numbers. These include match 
factories, silk-filiatures, ship-building, soap and glass 
firms, but especially cotton mills. This in turn has 
meant a departure from the old apprenticeship form 
of industry and has brought the excesses known so 
well in the West of congestion, bad housing, woman 
and child labour, dangerous machinery, unsanitary 
occupations and conditions, and the usual strife be- 
tween employer and employee. Labour agitations, 
lock-outs and strikes have therefore been growingly 
common, and are likely to still more greatly increase 
in number and in violence. 

Confucian Classics Cast Out. 

Educationally this period saw a complete discarding 
of the old Confucian Classics. The former decade had 
attempted to still retain them as a basis for literature 
and morals, This was considered now, however, but 


296 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


an effort to continue the precepts of Absolutism, and 
Confucius was hurried aside as the arch abettor of 
such a system. The wider study of sociology took the 
place of the study of Jaw in popular favour, and history 
was read with avidity. The centre of interest was 
shared by science, which the high school and college 
student studied with splendid zest. English and 
mathematics were also popular. In the former period 
it was necessary to invite many teachers from abroad. 
Now native sons were returning from foreign coun- 
tries, and were quite ready to take many of the higher 
positions themselves. 

Christian Conquests. 

Christianity was never more popular or progressive 
than during these years. Crowds of the best of the 
youth of the land flowed into her schools and colleges. 
This meant not alone the ousting of some of the un- 
worthy of the former decade but an incoming of scores 
of young men and women of fine intelligence who 
accepted Christianity as not only pre-eminently rea- 
sonable but as the real basis for China’s future prog- 
ress. A new stream of native sons and daughters 
began to flow forth into schools, hospitals, the min- 
istry and other Christian service, and this still con- 
tinues. Not a few have also gone into public life to 
the distinct betterment of national and international 
relations. 

The Renaissance, 1921-26. 

The “New Thought Movement,” the “ New Tide,” 
the ‘“ Renaissance” are the terms generally used to 
characterize the new-culture movement of the last few 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 297 


years in China. Due to the forces outlined above, and 
especially to numbers of students and others who had 
studied and travelled abroad and were now returning 
in numbers to their native land, a new enlightenment 
was growing in various centres of the nation. These 
kindred spirits were naturally forming groups in such 
places and attaining unity of consciousness and con- 
viction. ‘This led, as early as 1920, to the formation 
of the Young China Association in Peking and else- 
where, one of the forerunners of many youth associ- 
ations through the land. True to the spirit of youth 
in many lands and times, it has shown itself intensely 
patriotic, critical, desirous of reform. It has been also, 
as most movements are in the beginning, strongly 
“anti ” rather than “ pro,” yet has had a goodly meas- 
ure of progressive content. This may be seen in the 
following agitations which have marked its growth: 

1. The Anti-Classic Movement. This was largely a 
revolt against the old literary form of expression. 
Tradition required that all essays and books be ex- 
pressed in the ancient language of the Confucian Clas- 
sics. This still obtained when the modern newspaper 
and magazine began to make their way throughout the 
country. A little group of these young intellectuals 
determined to drive out the custom and introduce the 
everyday language of the land. There was bitter feel- 
ing for a time on the part of the older literati, but the 
new with some modifications has won the day, and 
newspapers, magazines, books, poems, treatises are 
pouring from the Chinese presses in a purified language 
of the people. 


298 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


2. The Anti-Military Movement. ‘The break-up of 
the country into great military centres was early 
recognized by these student movements as inimical to 
the unity and progress of the nation. Such control led 
to constant struggles for supremacy with consequent 
distress, and was rapidly draining all the resources of 
the land away from economic and educational advance 
to accumulate great armies. Strong protest was made 
against all this at first in demonstrations, speeches and 
publications and one heard much against the turning 
of the peaceful soul of China aside to serve the mili- 
tary machine. Of late, however, the movement ap- 
pears to have concluded to fight militarism with 
military force and has allied itself in large measure 
with the Republican forces first under the late Sun 
Yat-sen, and more recently under Marshal Feng 
Yii-hsiang and other leaders. There is thus grave 
danger that the student party may itself become but 
another of the many military factions and its protest 
be lost in the scramble for power. 

3. Anti-Capitalistic Movement. ‘The distress to 
workmen, especially in the great port centres, where 
modern manufacturing plants have been established, 
has also received the attention of the student move- 
ment. Many of their leaders have learned at first hand 
some of the abuses of the industrial system in the West 
and are doubtless sincerely desirous of mitigating its 
impact upon the East, and these have been attempting 
the problem constructively. On the contrary, there 
are doubtless many others of the Middle School stage 
who are led into noisy demonstrations with little defi- 





3 
: 
; 
: 
. 
| 
: 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 299 


nite idea as to the history of industrialism or its 
remedies. Though sincere in their protests in the 
main, they are in danger of being the tools of more 
sinister parties. 

4. The Anti-Religious Movement. The Young 
China Association, spoken of above, early made it one 
of its conditions that its membership should be lim- 
ited to those who had no religious faith. This had 
certain natural causes. It was to be expected that 
many accepting the new culture of the West should 
be soon dissatisfied with much in the older faiths 
of the East, to rush to the conclusion that they were 
totally false and that indeed all religion was so. 
Youths returning from abroad, especially those return- 
ing from certain countries of Europe where they had 
met with Christianity at its worst, and with anti- 
religious movements in those countries, easily assented 
and assisted. Deeper still was the materialistic in- 
terpretation of a certain school of modern science. 
This interpretation, as shown in a previous study, was 
the conclusion of the Sung and other philosophers of 
China’s own culture, so it was readily accepted, and 
materialism is alike incompatible with beliefs in God, 
freedom and immortality, all basic factors to religious 
faith. This materialism is doubtless the deepest ele- | 
ment in the anti-religious movement. | 

5. The Anti-Christian Movement. ‘The anti- 
religion movement soon centred in an attack upon 
Christianity, chiefly because it was the really aggres- 
sive religious force in the land. At first this was an 
attack upon the irregularities of the Church rather 


300 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


than upon Christianity, and some of the leaders urged 
_ that men take into their lives the personality and pas- 
sion of Jesus, an attitude still fostered by the more 
intelligent. Others are pushing a campaign to oust 
Christianity root and branch. They minimize its 
manifest benefits by declaring that Christianity is not 
the only cult that teaches compassion, service and 
sacrifice. It is claimed that Christianity is conserva- 
tive, makes for divisions and wars, is opposed to 
science, reduces self-reliance, is the servant of capital- 
ism and imperialism. Jesus, even if a legitimate his- 
torical figure, was unimportant and of little influence. 
His teachings regarding a God, a soul and an eternal 
life are opposed to psychology, biology and evolution. 
To say that sins can be redeemed is untrue, and only 
encourages sin. Worst of all, Christianity is a subtle 
means of stealing away China’s ancient culture. 

6. Anti-Christian Education. ‘Though the attack 
has been against the Christian movement in general it 
has been especially strong against Christian education. 
Hospitals could be but little accused, as they mani- 
festly do deeds of mercy. The churches have been 
interrupted in their services by hecklers and by special 
intruders during evangelistic services and Christmas 
week, but the schools have in almost all places received 
the brunt of the attack. Agents of the movement have 
isolated the Christian schools of the cities, displayed 
placards in processions accusing them of being slaves 
and traitors, and entering the institutions personally or 
by seduced elements, have stirred up strikes, leading 
at times to the closing of classes and even the destruc- 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 301 


tion of property. The teaching of religion in these 
institutions is usually made the ground of complaint, 
but the right of the missionary body to conduct educa- 
tional institutions is being ever more seriously chal- 
lenged. Indeed, certain responsible native educational 
associations have advised that all Christian educa- 
tional institutions be required to register with the gov- 
ernment and that absence of religious instruction be 
made one of the conditions of such registration. Even 
this the government, however, seemingly refuses to do, 
and appears to appreciate the value of some measure 
of educational liberty in their land. This is shown 
in certain recent regulations. 
Recent Regulations Regarding Foreign Education. 

Regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Edu- 
cation, Peking, November 16th, 1925, are as follows: 

(1) Any institution of whatever grade established 
by funds contributed by foreigners, if it carries on its 
work according to the regulations governing various 
grades of institutions as promulgated by the Ministry 
of Education, will be allowed to make application for 
recognition at the office of the proper educational 
authorities of the Government according to the regu- 
lations as promulgated by the Ministry of Education 
concerning the application for recognition on the part 
of all educational institutions. 

(2) Such an institution should prefix to its official 
name the term “ privately established.” 

(3) The president or principal of such an institution 
should be a Chinese. If such president or principal 
has hitherto been a foreigner then there must be a 


302 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


Chinese vice-president, who shall represent the insti- 
tution in applying for recognition. 

(4) If the institution has a board of managers, more 
than half of the board must be Chinese. | 

(5) The institution shall not have as its purpose the 
propagation of religion. 

(6) The curriculum of such an institution shall con- 
form to the standards set by the Ministry of Educa- 
tion. It shall not include religious courses among the 
required subjects. 

Of these six regulations, hesitation with regard to 
registration will probably arise chiefly over the last 
two. In considering these it will be well to remember 
that the regulations are for all such institutions “ es- 
tablished by funds contributed by foreigners,” so apply 
to Japanese and Russian as well as American and 
British. Regarding 5 it simply requires that the pur- 
pose of an educational institution be educational as 
they are in our homelands. Regarding 6, it requires 
that religion be not compulsory, which would imply 
that it may be voluntary, as again is the rule in most 
schools and colleges in Western lands. It should 
further be noted that despite the great anti-Christian 
clamour from certain circles, the new regulations are 
a considerable concession from those formerly prevail- 
ing, which read: ‘‘ The contents and method of teach- 
ing of all subjects should not contain anything of a 
religious nature.” 

7. Anti-Foreign Movement. As these Christian in- 
stitutions are still largely under foreign control, it was 
easy for the movement to take on an anti-foreign atti- 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 303 


tude. But there were many wider and more serious 
reasons for such a turn. One was the long history of 
foreign aggression and the territory on almost all bor- 
ders which these young intelligentia now see under 
foreign control. Another was the foreign concessions 
where though the Chinese population much outnum- 
bered the foreign and though the former paid by far 
the larger share of the taxes, still they had little or no 
say in administration. Most serious of all in the out- 
cry that followed against “ unequal treaties ” were the 
two questions of customs control and extraterritorial- 
ity. These, due to their agitation, are now being 
considered by international conferences and a more 
satisfactory modus vivendi will, it is hoped, be reached. 
New principles in the West, such as that of self- 
determination and the new spirit of nationalism in 
the East, make it doubtful, however, whether race 
aspirations will long be satisfied with certain other 
conditions. 

8. Anti-Japanese and Anti-British Movement. The 
former of these has been of long standing and need 
not here be traced. It has been more acute of recent 
years owing to the conflict between Japanese mill own- 
ers and their Chinese employees. The anti-British 
agitation has been quite recent. A Japanese killed a 
Chinese workman in one of the cotton mill strikes at 
Shanghai. Numbers of students entered the interna- 
tional settlement and began making speeches regarding 
this. As this was contrary to the settlement code, they 
were arrested. Later, as the arrests continued, a large 
number of many classes gathered before one of the 


304 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


police stations and began to drive back the police. The 
officer in charge finally fired into the crowd and some 


» nine students were killed, May 30th, 1925. As these 


international police were largely of British nationality, 
an immediate outcry was made against that nation and 
attacks soon followed, especially upon the British con- 
cessions at Hankow and Canton, and British subjects 
as far west as Chungking were forced for a time to 
leave their districts. The matter at Shanghai has been 
investigated by special judges and a general settlement 
made, but the agitation still continues, especially in the 
South-east. 

9. Anti-Imperialism, Bolshevism, Communism. 
There is little doubt but that the advent of Bolshevism 
has added a peculiar bitterness and brutality to many 
of the foregoing movements. It would be wrong to 
represent all as a result of Communist agitation, but 
that cult has decidedly added its monetary and other 
aid to the extremist elements. As to how extensive 
these latter elements are, one native writer of repute 
has divided the student body into three parts, fifteen 
per cent pro-Christian, fifteen per cent pro-Communist 
and the remaining seventy per cent indifferent in that 
regard. Communism has arrived in China at a most 
strategic time for its agitation, and has spared no skill 
or strength to seize the opportunity. Through the 
representative of the new Soviet Republic at Peking, 
they have scrapped the old so-called ‘‘ Czarist ” trea- 
ties and made new agreements. They have revised 
their customs regulations. They have given up their 
foreign concessions. ‘They have abolished all claims 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 305 


to extraterritoriality and have raised their minister at 
the capital to the status of ambassador. Naturally 
this has led not a few among China’s youths and others 
to inquire whether or not, after all, Russia is not their 
real friend among the nations, and to lend a more 
sympathetic ear to the doctrines of Communism. Add 
to this political and monetary motives from Third In- 
ternational agents and the influence of the cult can be 
readily understood. That Bolshevism will eventually 
win out in China, few are ready to believe. But 
already it has made big inroads in the city and dis- 
trict about Canton, and the Christian campaign in 
China will doubtless have it as one of its most in- 
sistent adversaries in the land for at least a decade 
to come. 

Yet “ Pro” Not “ Antti.” 

The new culture has been characterized above as 
though it were largely “‘ anti”? and negative. Doubt- 
less, like all reform movements in their earlier 
stages, it is so. But at the same time it will be 
seen that at heart it is distinctly “pro” and posi- 
tive. It has Patriotism and NATIONALISM written 
upon its crest in great capitals. This, in large meas- 
ure, is a new and hopeful thing in the land, and for 
other lands. The older cultures gave little cause 
for such attitudes. Ancestor Worship led a man to 
place first his family. Taoism has been, in later 
generations, chiefly concerned with demons. Bud- 
dhism has been mystic or distinctly other-worldly. 
Mohammedanism has occasionally been considered 
disloyal. Confucianism is best, but gives the affairs 


2 
fs of 


806 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


of the nation over into the hands of one, the Son 
of Heaven. 
Power of the Student Class. 

Who has aroused the “sleeping giant” at last to 
self-consciousness? It is the new Student Class. The 
other three traditional classes could not do so. The 
farmers could not; they are too concerned with daily 
toil. The working classes could not; they are chiefly 
concerned with wages. ‘The merchants are better. 
They have their city, and other, Chambers of Com- 
merce, but no great national organizations that really 
function. Some of the militarists are doubtless fired 
with patriotism, but it is usually one which puts their 
particular party to the top of the pyramid. The young 
student is probably at times over-emotional, feeling, 
shouting, rather than listening to wise counsel. He is 
often narrowly national, “‘ my country right or wrong, 
always my country.” He is over-active, precipitately 
ready to smash what he cannot immediately solve. 
Yet, viewed in the wider aspect, this same student 
movement is the most hopeful thing in the great chaos 
which is present-day China. It is the most intelligent 
and best informed of the many warring factions. It is 
the most self-conscious, the most widely spread, the 
best organized, the most active, the most influential, 
and on the whole the most unselfish and patriotic. It 
pities and would aid the farmer, toiler, merchant, the 
oppressed—all. 

Struggling for the Student Soul Today. 

What culture is going to determine the policy of this 

new great dynamic? It is quite possible that in the 


RECENT CULTURE CONTACTS 307 


development of the drama, other actors may monopo- 
lize the stage for fitful moments. But in the end these 
students will hold the star positions. Three or four 
great dominating ideas are struggling for their very 
souls today. One is Militarism with its appeal to a 
quick, mad rush to power. Another much akin is 
Communism with its clamour against Imperialism, 
Capitalism, Christianity, the bourgeoisie, as the bar- 
riers to a better world. A third and even more subtle, 
for seeming to explain fully the new world of science 
and society, is Materialism, with its easy theory of a 
congeries of atoms from nowhere chortled together into 
a cosmos. The fourth is Christianity with its ideal- 
istic interpretations of science, its call to highest per- 
sonality and international brotherhood, its vision of a 
new world-order under the dynamic of the Christ, and 
God the Father. 

A New International. 

Appalled by this challenge to the Church of Christ, 
today, one feels constrained to send forth the appeal 
of a New International;—-Christian Workers of the 
World, arise. Shake off your denominationalism, your 
nationalism, your narrowness. You have nothing to 
lose but your worldliness, your wranglings, your weak- 
ness. A time of times in the making or marring of this 
world’s history and destiny, confronts us. A great 
nation is coming actively into the affairs of men. We 
are now suddenly a vast neighbourhood, are we to be 
true neighbours? What spirit is to rule our relations, 
that of friends or of foes? Is China, this great fourth 
of our race, to be maddened by Militarism, plunging 


308 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


the peoples again some day into another awful sham- 
bles? Is she to be captured by Communism, and join 
the campaign for class hatred, class warfare, direct 
action, international ill-will? Is she to be dominated 
in thought and life by Materialism with its atheism, its 
fatalism, its endless series of nothings going nowhere? 
Or is she, constrained by the spirit of the Christ, to be 
part of one vast family under a common Father and 
go forth to study, to serve, to sacrifice, ‘‘ each esteem- 
ing the other better than himself ”’? 

“‘ Once to every tribe and nation, comes the moment 
to decide.” Such a time is with our Christian nations 
again today. Let us arise to the stature and the spirit 
of our Master. Let us study China. Let us serve her. 
Let us sacrifice for her sons. Let us share with her 
our choicest Christian culture. And then, some day, 
for all, 


“Far away beyond the endless coming ages, earth 
shall be 
Something other than the wildest, modern guess of 
you and me.” 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


The following brief list of books is appended as aid 
to further investigation along lines of study suggested 
by this volume. 


GENERAL READING 


Sacred Books of the East, edited by Max Miiller. 

Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by J. 
Hastings. 

Comparative Religions (Home University Series). 

The World’s Living Religions, R. KE. Hume. 

The Middle Kingdom, S. Wells Williams. 

Outlines of Chinese History, Li Ung-bing. 

Civilization in China, H. A. Giles. 

China in Law and Commerce, T. R. Jernigan. 

A History of Chinese Interature, H. A. Giles. 

A Cycle of Cathay, W. A. P. Martin. 

The Lore of Cathay, W. A. P. Martin. 

China, An Interpretation, J. W. Bashford. 

Chinese Characteristics, A. H. Smith. 


Cuapters I-IV 
Researches Into Chinese Superstitions, I-VII, Henry 
Doré. | 
The Religion of the Chinese, J. J. M. DeGroot. 
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, H. A. Giles. 
The Divine Panorama, (Supplement to “Strange Sto- 
ries”), H. A. Giles. 
Shanghai Missionary Conference Reports, (1877—). 
North China Branch, Royal Asiatic Society Reports. 
North China Herald. 


309 


810 CHINESE CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY 


China Journal of Science and Arts. 
The Chinese Recorder. 
The West China Missionary News. 


Cruapters V-VI 


Chinese Philosophy, Paul Carus. 

A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy, D. T. Suzuki. 

Chinese Logical Method, Prof. Hu Shih. 

History of Ancient Chinese Philosophy (In Chinese), 
Prof. Hu Shih. 

Chu Hsi and His Masters, J. P. Bruce. | 

Philosophy of Human Nature, Chu Hsi, J. P. Bruce. 

Chinese Readers’ Manual, W. F. Mayers. 


Cuapters VII-VIII 


The Tao Teh Ching, Paul Carus. 

Sayings of Lao-tzu, Lionel Giles. 

Musings of a Chinese Mystic, Lionel Giles. 
Chuang-tzu, H. A. Giles. 

Confucianism and Taoism, R. K. Douglass. 
China and Religion, E. H. Parker. 
Dragon, Image and Demon, H. P. Dubose. 


Crapters IX-X 
The Chinese Classics, I-VIII, translated by James Legge. 
Confucianism and Its Rivals, H. A. Giles. 
The Three Religions of China, W. E. Soothill. 
Outlines of Chinese History (Introduction), Dr. Faber. 
The Confucian Civilization, Z. K. Zia. 


CuHapters XI-XII 
Buddhism (Revised), W. Rhys-Davids. 
Buddhism (Home University Series) Mrs. Rhys-Davids. 
Chinese Buddhism, Dr. Edkins. 
Chinese Buddhism, Dr, Hitel. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 311 


Buddhism in China, 8. Beal. 

A Catena of Chinese Buddhism, 8. Beal. 

Buddhism and Buddhists in China, Louis Hodus. 

The New Testament of Higher Buddhism, T. Richard. 
The Laughing Buddha, J. L. Stewart. 

Honen (Notes), Coates and Ishizuka. 


CHAPTER XIII 


The Koran, translated by George Sale. 
Islam, 8. M. Zwemer. 

The Story of Islam, T. R. W. Luntz. 
Mohammedanism (Home University Series). 
The Arabian Prophet, Isaac Mason. 

Islam in China, Marshall Broomhall. 


CHAPTER XIV 


The Political Awakening of the East, G. W. Dutcher. 

Occidental Interpretations of the Far Eastern Problem, 
Woodhead, Norton, Arnold. 

Oriental Interpretations of the Far Eastern Problem, 
Count Soyeshima, P. W. Kuo. ~ 

China in the Family of Nations, H. T. Hodgkin. 

China Mission Year Book, 1925. 

China Today Through Chinese Eyes, T. T. Lew, et al. 

Christian Education in Chana. 

The Anti-Christian Movement, Shanghai Y. W. C. A. 


Index 


Abbasides, 275 

Aboriginal tribes, 283-285 

Abu Bekr, 261, 262 

Abu Talib, 259 

Ahung, 277, 281 

Alchemy, 159, 170 

Amitabha, O-mi-to Foh, 64, 65, 
241, 248, 249 

Ananda, 234, 239 

Ancestor worship, 84-108, 109, 
218, 285, 286 

Ancestors, 16, 29, 48, 44, 56, 58 

Angels, 266 

Animism, 15-36, 109, 1389, 148, 
286 

Anno Hegira, The Flight, 261, 
272 


“ Anti” Movements, 297-305 
Arhans, Lo-hans, 234, 248 
Asoka, Wheel King, 234 
Asuras, 227, 255 


Black stone, 259, 260 

Boxer rebellion, 291 

Boxerism, 46 

Bodhisatvas, 242, 253 

Bo-tree, 234 

Hoon on Marshall, 257, 273, 
279 

Bruce, Dr., 214 

Buddha, 32, 64, 65, 70, 213 

Buddhist, 30, 64, 65, 66, 72, 76, 
80 


Buddhism, 27, 32, 64, 166, 215, 
223-256, 285 


Caliphs, 270, 275 

Catalepsy, 37, 41, 43 

Carus, Paul, 116, 118, 121, 125 
Capitalism, 298 

Chang Tao-ling, Tien-si, 179 


Chang-liang, 178 

Changes, Book of, 123-127, 194, 
200, 201 

Charms, 50, 180, 250 

eaten 18, 22, 51, 95, 127, 253, 
279 

Cheo-sin, 123, 192 

Chi, 24, 214 

Chie, tyrant, 190 

Chow, Duke, 123, 152, 187, 193, 
203 

Chow dynasty, 134, 151, 167, 
187, 198, 206 

Chu-fu-tze, 129, 213, 214 

Christianity, 298, 299, 300, 301 

Chwangtze, 158, 208 

City-god, 63, 71, 74 

Classics, Confucian, 295, 297 

Classification, 17, 23 

Comets, 15, 46 

Coffin, 49, 50, 52, 54, 68, 84, 85, 
94, 95 

Confucius, 123-127, 151, 156, 
194-222 

Confucianism, 151, 185-222, 255, 
285, 286 

Commerce, 287 

Communism, 304 


a 


Deities, 88, 166 [177 

Demons, 44, 59, 63, 74, 80, 166, 

Desires, 230, 238 

Devas, 227, 238, 247, 248, 255 

Devils, 48, 53, 106 

Din, Duke, 196, 197 

Disease, 136 

Divination, 125, 130, 184, 218 

Divorce, 103 

Doctrine of Mean, 205 

Dragon, 148, 165, 179 

Dragon Horse, 119, 120, 121, 
124, 167, 185 


312 


INDEX 


Dreams, 37 
DuBose, H. P., 168 


Earth Branches, 140, 141, 144 
Eastern Hell God, 66 

Echo Tomb, 273 

Eclipses, 15 

Edkins, Dr., 64, 148, 255 
Hducational regulations, 301 
Eight Immortals, 166 

Elixir, 164 

Exorcism, 53 
Extraterritoriality, 290 


Faber, Dr., 218 

Fa-hsien, 250 

Fairies, 24, 27 

Fate, 149 

Feng Yii-hsiang, 299 

Fengtu, 66 

Fetishes, 27, 32, 33 

Fiends, 27 

Filial, 98, 219 

First Emperor, 211 

Five duties, 268, 280 

Five elements, 51, 110, 129, 131, 
132, 134, 138, 148 

Four Books, 205, 210 

Four Noble Truths, 230, 231 

Fuh Hsi, 116, 119, 120, 123, 167, 
185 

Funerals, 52, 53, 88 

Fung-shui, 139-150 


Gabriel, 259 

Gautama, 225 

Genii, 65, 160, 161, 162, 163, 174 

Geomancer, 51, 54, 144, 150 

Ghosts, 62, 70, 81, 82, 91, 93, 94, 
227 

Giles, H. A., 67, 213 

Gods, 45, 46, 47, 70, 92 

Gospel, 266, 267 

Grave, 51, 54, 55, 58, 88, 91, 92, 
147 

Great Dipper, Northern Bushel, 
62, 117 

Green Dragon, 51, 142, 148 

Great Extreme, 112, 113, 180, 
167 

Great Learning, 205 


313 


Great Plan, 134, 139 
Great Renunciation, 226 


Hades, 79, 87, 92 

“ Haji,” 280 

Han dynasty, 84, 134, 159, 202, 
211, 271 

Han Wen-kung, 213 

Han Wu, 163, 164 

Heaven, 61, 62, 70, 97, 102, 120, 
154, 189-194, 200, 203, 215, 
221, 239, 277 

Heavenly Herdsman, 18 

Heavenly Horizon Stone, 19 

Heavenly River, Milky Way, 
15, 18 

Heavenly Stems, 140, 144 

Heavens, 60, 79, 238 

Hells, 60, 63, 66, 69, 238, 239 

Hinayana, Little Vehicle, 235, 
250 

Hinduism, 227, 233 

History, Book of, Shu Ching, 
139, 187, 194, 200, 201 

Horoscope, 144, 145 

Hume, R. E., 216 

Hwei-hwei, 273, 274 

Hwang Ti, 185 

Hwen, 47 

Hypnoties, 43, 45 


Idols, 43, 92, 128, 246 

Immortality, 47, 170 

Immortals, 171, 172, 173, 174, 
175 

Inaction, 152, 153 

Interpretation, 16, 17, 36, 37 

Iron City, 80 

Islam, 257-282 

Islands of the Blessed, 82 

{[-ti, 190 


Jade, 50, 163 

Jambu, 227, 237, 239, 244 
Jerusalem, 259, 263 

Jesus, 266, 267, 268, 279, 281 
Jihad, 269 

Jinn, 24, 25, 266 

Judgment, 268 


Kaaba, Cube, 258, 260, 263 


314 


Kalpas, 2386, 237 

Karma, 230 

Kashiapmadanga, 224 

Khadijah, 259, 261, 262 

Kiang Tai-kung, 168 

Koran, 261, 265, 277, 281 

Koreish tribes, 258, 259, 260 

Kwang Hsi, 41 

Kwan-ti, God of War, 182, 247 

Kwan-yin, Goddess of Mercy, 
182, 245, 247, 248 

Kwen Len, 65, 175 


Labor conditions, 295 

Laotze, Li Lao-chuin, 151, 152, 
156, 157, 158, 163, 208 

Law, 65, 103, 230, 232, 243, 251, 
254, 266 

Legge, Dr., 218, 220 

Li, 214 

Liang dynasty, 252 

Liao Kiai, 21, 37, 41 

Lin, 201 

Li-pin, Chwan-chu, 167 

Liu-chih, 280 

Loh (river) Writing, 121, 122, 
124, 202 

Lo-yang, 224, 252 

Lu, State, 194, 196, 197, 201 


Magician, 42, 169 

Mahayana, Great Vehicle, 235, 
245, 246 

Maitreya, Mi-lei Foh, Laughing 
Buddha, 240, 248 

Manchu, 67, 271 

Marco Polo, 288 

Marriage, 101, 102, 145 

Martin, Dr., 290 

Materialism, 130 

Mecca, 258, 261, 263, 280 

Medina, 262 

Mencius, Mungtze, 99, 209, 210 

Metempsychosis, 80, 96 

Meyers, W. F., 114, 115, 159 

Miao tribes, 283, 285 

Militarism, 298 

Ming dynasty, 97, 271, 275 

Ming-ti, 224 

Missions, missionaries, 288 


INDEX 


Mohammed, Mohammedanism, 
257-282 

Mo-kwei, 239 

Morrison, Robert, 288 

Mosque, 262 

Mu-lien, 81 


Narakas, 228 

Nestorians, 288 

Nirvana, 70, 230, 231, 233, 243, 
246, 253, 255 

Noble Eightfold Path, 230, 231, 
232 

No-su, Lo-lo, 248 


Olopun, 288 

Omar, 261, 269 

Omei, Mt., 247, 251, 253 
Omeyides, 274 


Paracelsus, 164 

Pearly Emperor, 62, 67, 81, 169, 
177, 180 © 

Pei, 47 

Pharmacy, 138 

Phenomena, 15, 27, 110, 114, 
133, 139 

Philosopher’s stone, 163 

Philosophy, 109-130 

Physics, 131-165 

Physiology, 135-139 

Pilgrimages, 280 

Planets, 15, 23, 140, 147, 167 

Poetry, Book of, Odes, 194, 200, 
201 

Population, 257, 283 

Posterity, 98, 99, 108 

Prescriptions, 137 

Pretas, 228 

Priesthood, 65, 177, 248, 254 

Priests, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 81, 
88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 178, 181 

Princely Man, 204, 205, 221 

Prophets, 266 

Prop-loom stone, 19 

Propriety, 205 

Psychology, 37-59 

Pu-hsien, 243, 247 

Pu-kung, 250 

Pulse, 136, 137 

Pure Ones, Three, 167, 160 


INDEX 815 


Pu-sas, (Bodhisatvas) 239, 243, 
244 


Ramadan, 280 

Reciprocity, 204 

Reincarnation, 34, 36 

Rejeb, 263 

Release of Life, 31 

Relies, 250 

Religion, 299 

Revenge, 218 

Rites, Book of, 194 

River Plan, 120, 121, 122, 124, 
202 


Saad Wakkas, 273 

Saha World, 237, 240 

Sakyamuni, 247 

Schools of Buddhism, 252, 253 

Sermon, Buddha’s First, 230 

Seven sins, 269 

Shades, 88 

Shang dynasty, 187, 191, 206 

Shen Lung, 186 

Sheriff, Uncertain, 94 

Shia dynasty, 191, 205, 206 

Shun, 75, 120, 122, 143, 167, 186, 
187, 188, 206 

Siddharta, 225, 226, 228 

Six Paths, 69 

Sorcerer, Twan-kung, 32, 40 

Soul, 37, 39, 40, 44, 46, 47, 49, 
BUDS, 00, 00,107,410) 72,73, 
74, 75, 78, 82, 85, (star) 46, 
(second) 55, (third) 60, 70 

Spirit turtle, 121, 124 

Spirits, 24, 25, 30, 61, 62, 72, 
74, 78, 86, 89, 90, 97 

Spiritually Precious, 169 

Spring and Autumn Annals, 201 

Stars, 15, 18, 46, 62, 141, 142 

Student Class, 306, 307 

Sumeru mountain, 227, 237, 238 

Sun Yat-sen, 298 

Suicide, 103 

Sung dynasty, 79, 271, 275 

Szechwan, 27, 66, 94, 120, 167, 
179, 279, 283 


Tablet, 47, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 77, 
' 78, 85, 86, 104, 277 


Tai-ping rebellion, 290 
Ta-mo, Bodhidharma, 251, 252, 
Boa 


Tang dynasty, 251, 270, 273, 275, 
286 

Tang, King of Shang, 187, 191, 
192 


Taoism, 64, 151-184, 215, 286 

Taoist, 32, 52, 76 

Taoist popes, 178, 179 

Tao-Teh, 153, 154, 157, 158 

Tathagata, 230, 231, 233, 236 

Temples, 62, 63, 128, 247, 278 

Ten commandments, Buddhist, 
254 

Terrace of Oblivion, 69 

Ti-tsang, 248, 247, 249 

Transformation, 21, 22, 23, 36, 
159 

Transfusion, 57 

Transmigration, 27-36, 39, 69 

Treaties, 289, 290 

Tsung-chih, 169 

Tushita heaven, 238, 239 

Tu Wen-hsiu, 276 

Twang-kung, Sorcerer, 32, 40 


Uncertain, Sheriff, 63, 70 
Unlimited, The, 112 


Virtues, Five, 204, 210 


Wa-si tribe, 285 

Weaver Maiden, 18 

Wen, King, 116, 123, 187, 200 

Wen-shu, God of Literature, 
248, 246, 253 

West China Union University, 
20 

Western Heaven, 64, 82, 242, 
248, 250 

Western Royal Mother, 175, 176 

Whirl winds, 23 

White Tiger, 51, 142, 148 

Williams, Wells, 137, 290 

Women, 101, 220 

Worship, 87 

Wu, King, 152, 187, 193 


Xavier, St. Francis, 288 


316 


Yakoob Beg, 276 

Yama, 67 

Yang-Yin, 47, 49, 51, 109-130, 
131, 140, 148, 214, 215 

Yao, 24, 26 

Yao, Emperor, 75, 122, 186, 187, 
189 


Yates, Dr., 98 

Yellow river, 18 
Yellow sea, 66 

Ying Chow islands, 175 


INDEX 


Yin-Yang, supra, ef. Yang-Yin 
Yii, The Great, 120, 123, 148, 
187, 188, 189 
Yoh-shi Foh, 242 
Yuen dynasty, 

271; 245 


Zaid, 262 
Zia, Z. K., 217 
Zwemer, S. M., 263, 265, 267, 


Mongol, 166, 


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TT 


1 1012 010 








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